


The Dragon's Flight

by KingAlexThomas



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: Black Character(s), Caribbean character, Cultural Differences, Demons, Dragons, Enemies to Friends, F/M, Female Character of Color, Japanese Mythology & Folklore, Major Original Character(s), Mythology References, Original Character(s), POV Character of Color, Period-Typical Racism
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2021-02-06
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:08:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 21,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27310207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KingAlexThomas/pseuds/KingAlexThomas
Summary: Gaia Nereida Thomas had thought her adventure had ended when she finished moving to Japan from St.Thomas, V.I. and settled down with her Mom in Tokyo. Only to then discover that Fate, as always, had a different view on that hot take. Little did she know, that once she got pulled down that well with Kagome, so would the wool around her eyes be pulled down with her. She will quickly, and harshly, discover that the world, family, and people she thought she knew, hadn't been as honest as she thought.It's not just the Shikon Jewel shards she will have to piece together.
Relationships: Higurashi Kagome & Original Character(s)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello Everyone! Welcome to the start of Gaia's story! I'm so hyped to finally show off this fic and my characters and I hope you're hyped for a wild asf adventure. Gaia sure ain't. But she's going on one, whether she wants to or not. Enjoy the story!

There are times I still can’t believe that I’m in Japan of all places. I had always, stupidly to be honest, thought that I would live out the rest of my life on St.Thomas or in the States. Yet, here I am, walking home from school with my japanese friend, Kagome, in Tokyo! You’d think after living in Japan for five months, that the awe and excitement would wear off. Especially after being put into school. But nope, it still amazed me every time I woke up and remembered where I was. It only got stronger, especially after we moved to Tokyo from Misawa last month.

I thought Misawa was wild, but Tokyo is a whole nother level of activity. Being a girl who lived in small towns and suburbs all her life, it was very overwhelming and a bit terrifying moving into a big city. Luckily, I knew and learned quite a bit of important japanese to help me navigate my new life. And even more luckily, I met Kagome. 

“Not gonna lie, Kags, I’m beyond bored, even with all the schoolwork I have to do.” I complained, slouching over with the weight of my back pack. Biggest downside of Japan, the sheer amount of homework I always have to do! This is insanity!

“Don’t worry, Gaia, the week is almost over.” 

“It’s only Wednesday, though.” I reminded her, giving her a vaguely annoyed look.

“Halfway there!” She continued optimistically, making both of us laugh. It’s so good to have a friend again after the period of loneliness I experienced during our move here. Yes, I had a phone to call my friends back in the States and in the Virgin Islands, but it's not the same as being able to go outside and hang out with them. I can only hear their voices and that can only be a substitute for so long. It doesn’t help that so far, I’ve only seen one other black person here besides me and Ma. So the stares I would get from the other kids at my new school made my skin itch in a way I’ve never experienced before. I hated it. Kags was like a breath of fresh air. Despite me being the sore thumb of the school with my dark skin, she and her friends still chose to befriend me and include me in their group. They planned on taking me to the movie theater not too far from here to see a cool new movie coming out this weekend. Both for fun and to help me learn more Japanese. I couldn’t wait! Oh shit, Kags was talking!

“Understand?” She asked, looking at me expectedly. I just smiled and nodded, even though I didn't know what to. Hopefully nothing lethal or physically damaging. Mentally damaging too. 

“Ah, finally! We’re home!” I cheered when I noticed we arrived at Kags’ house. We have a test coming up and Kags already figured out that I never study for anything. I always wing it and either get an A or a B. Fortune smiles on me, at least in Grammar class. Wish she would smile on me in Math class too but that’s asking too much from the fickle goddess, apparently.

“Good afternoon, Mrs. Higurashi!” I called out in greeting as Kags and I took off our shoes and left them by the front door before making our way into the kitchen.

“Good afternoon, girls.” She replied, giving us a smile over her shoulder. Kags’ mom is so nice and sweet, way different compared to Ma who is more stern and tough. Not to mention, she makes delicious Japanese food! Today, she made us the dango, the weird colorful dumplings on a stick you see a lot in Japanese shows and anime. Rushing over to the plate, I took up a stick of dango and took a bite out of the green dumpling. The texture was a bit weird to get used to, but the taste more than made up for it.

“Thank you!” I thanked her loudly, happy with my new treat. That is, until Kags nudged my shoulder with her elbow.

“Gaia, remember?”

I gave her a questioning look at the weird question. What is she talking abo-Oh! That’s right, I’m supposed to be practicing my Japanese.

“Oh, uh, Arigatou gozaimasu!” I said, getting a proud nod from both of the women. Its such a confidence booster when native speakers are proud of your progress on learning their language.

“You’re welcome, dear.”

“We’re gonna be upstairs studying, Mom. We have a grammar test coming up and I need to make sure Gaia  **actually** studies for once.” Kags told her mom, grabbing a dango and dragging me upstairs, her mom’s laughter following us.

  
  
  


“Good job! Only one more word and you’ll be done.” Kags finally said, the words ringing in my ears like a bell of freedom.

“Hallelujah!”

I am already sick to death of hearing these words over and over again. We ran through them 7 times already! 

‘Just one more word, Gaia. One more word and then you can get some candy from Mrs.Higurashi.

“Wanderlust.”

“W-A-N-D-E-R-L-U-S-T.” 

“All righty then, we’re done!” Kags announced proudly, slamming the textbook closed. With a loud celebratory cheer, I raced downstairs at full speed.

“Mrs. Higurashi! Kagome and I are done!” 

Mrs.Higurashi smiled and opened up a cabinet not too far away from where she was cooking, pulling out a jar filled with familiar candy. Hi Chews! My candy reward! Reaching in, I grabbed a handful and skipped to the living room. 

“Arigatou!” I tossed over my shoulder, settling onto the couch. Only to then almost shit myself when something heavy landed on my stomach, making me choke on the candy I had in my mouth. When I finally got control of my candy, and my lungs, I looked down at the culprit. 

“Buyo, what the hell?!” I asked, glaring down at the fat cat in my lap. I’m still not used to being at a friend’s house that has a cat. Especially a cat like Buyo. I always thought cats were cool, calm, and collected. Buyo was none of those things. But he was cuddly and so sweet, I couldn’t help but let him get away with it. So I let him stay on my chest as I thought about my gift. 

Tomorrow is Kags birthday, her 15th to be exact. I really wanted to give her a special gift, both as a way to remember me if I moved again and as a thank you for being my friend. But I didn’t know what to get! For my birthday, Mrs. Higurashi gave me handmade kimonos she made for me since she heard me complaining about not being able to find one here that could fit women with broader shoulders and wider hips like me and Mom. Kags surprised me with this cool hunting knife she found in a store and a bag of chocolate candy. When I had asked about the knife, she simply said “just in case”. She gave me the knife privately, of course.

I could give her something me and Mom made. Recently on a hike, Mom found a pretty purple crystal in a cave and brought it home, hoping to make a necklace out of it. I can ask her to carve something into it and then give it to Kags! Problem solved!

‘I’ll probably have Ma carve in a dragon or something. Wait, nevermind, that would take too long. Maybe some kanji with life advice? Ugh, I’ll figure it out later. I’m probably most likely the one who will have to do it since its last minute.’

“Gaia dear, your mother is here!” I heard Mrs.Higurashi call from the front door.

“Coming!” I yelled back in response, gathering up my stuff into my backpack and went to where I heard her voice come from. I was greeted with the sight of Ma standing outside the doors talking to Mrs. Higurashi. A lot of people say that I look just like her when she was my age, but honestly, I don’t see it. She is darker than me, has a bigger afro that is arranged differently, different colored eyes and has thicker lips than me. Nose wise, yeah I definitely got that from her. Personality and temper department? Absolutely.

“Hi Ma!”

“Hi sweetie.” She greeted, her brown eyes shining brightly. To be honest, her brown eyes look orange, not brown. Especially when the sunlight hits them. Then they look like fire. But whenever I ask her about it, she always tells me that they are brown and that I just have something wrong with my eyes. She gets strangely defensive about it. Then again, she gets defensive about a lot of things.

“Thank you for watching her, Kuroitchi.”

“Oh, it isn’t a problem. She’s such a dear and a joy to have over.” Mrs. Higurashi said, giving both of us a happy smile, Mom giving me a proud look. 

“That’s good to hear. She loves coming here and it really cheered her up when we moved here.”

“That’s so good to hear! Kagome loves it when she comes over and enjoys being a teacher. She especially enjoys listening to Gaia’s stories about St.Thomas. It sounds absolutely wonderful!”

“It has its ups and down but its home.”

“Mooooom.” I finally spoke up, reminding her that we gotta head home. Ma rolled her eyes at me but gave in. For now.

“Well, she’ll see you in the morning.”

“Good night!” I shouted as we walked down the street to our house. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Gaia!” Kagome shouted from her opened window, waving. I waved back before turning around and following Ma to our house.

  
  
  


At dinner, I told Mom my idea about Kags’ gift. And as expected, she was not happy about the timing.

“Do you know how long carving takes? Why did you wait till last minute to tell me about this?” Mom questioned, annoyed with my timing. I knew this would be a problem. Ma hates it when I get last minute ideas. Honestly, I don’t blame her. But it’s not my fault that my mind comes up with my best ideas too late. My brain doesn’t operate on a time limit!

“Please, Mom? Please?” I begged, giving her my best begging eyes. Begging a Caribbean mom is a big gamble because most of the time, it doesn’t work. Thankfully, she was too tired to bother resisting.

“Fine, but you’re going to be the one staying up all night doing it. Either that or wake up extra early to do it.”

Knew it. That means I gotta get up earlier to go dig through the multitude of boxes to find the carving equipment. 

“Yes, Mom.” I said, stuffing my last plantain into my mouth before getting up to throw away my plate. The plantains tasted differently here than in St.Thomas but still pretty good. You can never go wrong with plantains!

“It’s already after 9 so you can either shower and go to bed or shower and start workin.” Ma called out from behind me as I went upstairs.

“Yeah, Ma. I’ll shower and do it in the mornin. Night.” I called back in response, my limbs already bogging down with exhaustion. I showered and made my way into my room, shaking my head at some of the still packed boxes around it. Shit, even my suitcase with some of my clothes was still packed. 

‘Mom was pretty happy when she found out my school does uniforms. At least they are better looking than St. Thomas’s school uniforms.’ I mused as I shoved the suitcase into the still partially empty closet. Mom’s probably gonna get on my ass about that this weekend. Oh well, too tired to care right now. I’ll suffer the consequences of my procrastination later. As I turned off the light and crawled into bed, I got this odd….feeling in my stomach. And it wasn’t good. Something was about to happen. 

‘Hopefully, it's not something too bad.’


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shit is starting to rise to the fan and Gaia's black instincts are warning her.

When I woke up the next day, the feeling was still there but worse.

“I better not be sick with something.” I mumbled, rolling over to the other side of bed but not getting up. A few more seconds won't hurt. Despite the fact that Ma was downstairs getting ready to leave for work, she still somehow managed to hear me.

“Are you sick?” I heard her call up to me, making me sigh in annoyance. I really don’t like talking when I had just woken up.

“No, Ma. Just tired.” I answered back with a heavy sigh.

“Alright. If you feel worse later, have the school call me.”

“Okay, Ma.” I answered, in a tone that told her I understood and had stuff to do. 

"Heading out. Have a good day at school!” She shouted before leaving, the sound of the door closing behind her, leaving me alone in the house.

“I wonder if I can get a few more minutes of sleep….Nope, can’t.” I grumbled, glancing at my alarm clock only to groan. I had to get up.

‘Okay Gaia, on the count of 3, swing yourself up. 1...2….3……..4….5!’ She motivated herself, swinging her body up from bed with a loud groan. There’s something about getting up from bed that just saps all motivation from your body.

‘Okay, shower, eat and then head over to Kagome’s house. Don’t fall asleep in the shower again.’ I reminded myself, once again taking a second to motivate myself. As I headed in the shower though, I felt as if I were forgetting something. Oh well, it’ll hit me in the shower, probably.

  
  


It didn’t hit me in the shower. It didn’t hit me while I was dressing in my uniform. It didn’t even hit me while eating breakfast. No, it hit me when my behind had already left the house, locked the door and everything, and was already halfway at Kagome’s.

“Fucking shit!”

I can’t believe I forgot! Kagome’s present! 

‘I was supposed to carve that this morning! Ugh, I can't go home now, or else Kags and I would be late! And I don’t have enough cash on me to buy her a decent gift either! God fucking dammit!’ I cursed myself out, mentally kicking myself for being an idiot. Eventually, after standing in the street mentally yelling at myself for a good few minutes, I got myself together enough to continue stomping my way to the Higurashi shrine. 

‘Okay Gaia, if Kags asks about her present, which she won’t because she knows its rude to do that, just say that you’re polishing it up or something and you can give it to her tomorrow. See? Easy explanation.’ I explained to myself, trying to wave away the feeling of guilt hanging over me. I feel like such a bad friend, forgetting my friend’s gift. Especially with all the things Kags did for me.

‘Ugh, get over it, Gaia. Its done now. Ain’t shit we can do about it now.’ I waved away the dark cloud hanging over my head. As I walked up the stairs towards the house, I was surprised to see Kags not only already up and awake, but dressed and waiting by the door. 

“Yeesh Kags, got early morning birthday plans or what? I ain’t never seen you up this early before.” I greeted as I got closer, getting a bright smile in return.

“Morning Gaia! I was waiting for you actually.” 

‘What?!’

“What? Why? I swear, I didn’t do anything, and if I did do something, it was just a joke, Kags-” I quickly tried to explain myself, waving my hands in front of me. Only to pause when Kagome laughed.

“You’re not in trouble, Gaia. Well….unless you did something that would get you in trouble. You didn’t, riiiight?” Kags asked, giving me a familiar look. I only smiled innocently and shook my head. What she don’t know won’t hurt her.

“Not ta ting” I said, only to flinch when I realized I had said it with my accent. And judging by the odd look I got from Kags, it was very noticeable.

“I mean,er, nope, nothing at all. Clean as a whistle. Clear conscience.” I backtracked, keeping my grin to try to be convincing. Kags narrowed her eyes in suspicion at me before deciding to let it go.

“Hmmm….alriiight. Anyways, the reason I’m up so early is to give you something.” She said, digging through her bright yellow backpack. 

‘Give me something?’

“Hey, I thought it was your birthday, not mine. Didn’t know I was born twice.” I snarked, grinning for real now. 

“I mean, I could keep it if you wanna be snarky-”

“No! Okay, okay, I won’t sass. What is it? Food?” I asked, excitedly hopping on my toes.

“No, its not edible.” Kags answered with a roll of her eyes. I can’t see it since she’s turned away but I can sure as fuck hear it.

“Well that significantly lowers excitement. Is it cool?”

“That depends. If it helps, its something that could potentially be used in a fight.” Kags said, turning back to me with a smile and hiding something behind her back. 

“Come on, Kags, enough with the suspense! What is it?”

“Tada!”

Kags whipped out the surprise, presenting it to me with a wide grin.

“............What is it?” I asked, confused by what ever the fuck I was looking at. It was a long black rectangular….thing. 

“It’s a Tessen! Remember, the war fans?”

“Oh! You actually got me one?! No way!” 

I took the fan from her and snapped it open, in awe at the design on it. A muted dark shade of blue with a black design on the center. It looked kinda like a flower but that’s not really saying much. It was also kinda heavy but that’s no surprise considering the spokes are made of metal. Overall, it looked really good!

“Yeah, I had been thinking, maybe giving you a knife wasn’t the greatest idea. Not that I don’t trust you! But if you got caught with it, the police might get the wrong idea and I don’t want you to get in trouble. So I thought this would be better!” Kags explained, zipping up her backpack.

“It’s amazing, Kagome. Thank you.” I said sincerely, my use of her full name catching her attention. She gave me a soft smile in return.

“You’re welcome, Gaia.” She said, stepping forward to hug me tightly. When I first met her, it didn’t take me long to figure out that Kagome was an affectionate person who liked hugging her friends. It took a bit to get used to but I got over my surprise quickly and always returned them back. It's been a while, haven’t been able to hug my friends since they, well, weren’t here.

“Alright alright, come on, let’s get going before we’re late.” I said, quickly rubbing my eyes so Kags won’t see the tears that appeared. I stuffed my new tessen into my bag and followed Kags to the front gate, passing by the old shrine. 

“Have you heard about what Mrs.Yuko did? Gave her whole 3rd period a whole PACKET! And its due today!”

“That’s what they get for doing that stupid prank.”

“How does she expect them to finish?! And she’s giving them a quiz today!”

“Serves them right. Putting a whoopee cushion on her seat, ugh, where are we? In the 60s?”

“Yeah, you’d expect something a little more elaborate in today’s age. And those things aren’t even funny anymore.”

“They were never funny to begin wi-”

“Kagome!”

Me and Kags turned to where the shout came from to see Souta peeking out from within the old well area, looking 5 seconds away from crying.

“Souta, what are you doing in there? You know you shouldn’t play in the old shrine.” Kags scolded, walking over to him, me following out of curiosity.

“But Buyo’s stuck in the well!”

Souta led us inside and showed us where he last saw Buyo. Every step I took closer to the well, the more that bad feeling in me increased. Just putting my feet over the threshold was a challenge, my nerves screaming at me to turn and run.

‘Where is this feeling coming from?’

Just barely managing to push through it, I stepped into the well area, standing behind Kags and Souta as they stared down into the darkness where the well itself sat. 

“I think he’s down there but…..”

“Then why don’t you go down there and get him?” Kags asked boredly, already tired of this no doubt.

“This place feels kinda….creepy.” Souta explained, shivering a bit. Now that I’ve noticed it, its cold in here. When did it get cold? Outside is warm. It might just be because there’s no sun.

‘Now you know damn well that’s not the reason.’ The smarter part of my brain said. To shake off the surging feeling of unease, I smirked and crept closer to behind Souta and bent down until I was right next to his ear. He was so focused on the well, he didn’t even notice me creeping up behind him. Kags did tho. She ducked her head away so as to not clue Souta in with her snickers.

“ _Soutaaaaa~”_

“AHHHH!” 

I managed to leap back in time to dodge his flailing arms as he screamed, laughing so hard I could barely keep standing.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA Jeez Souta, I-I didn’t think I’d get a whole scream from you!” I stuttered through my laughter, wiping tears from my eyes.

“Gaia! That was mean!”

“No, that was hilarious. I saw an opportunity and I took it.” I said proudly, leaning against the doorway.

“Hahaha That was good, Gaia.” Kags congratulated, high fiving me.

“Kagome!”

“Oh calm down, Souta. What are you so scared of? There’s nothing in here.”

Of course, right at that moment, the lid on the well rattled and a scratching noise came out. Souta yelped and leapt to hide behind Kagome and I won’t lie, I did flinch a bit.

“Somethings down there!”

“Yeah, like, the cat?” Kags said, rolling her eyes at Souta. That feeling of unease was back and raging now. Alongside the other bad feeling that I still can’t name. Fear? Nervousness?

“Ugh, fine, come on, Gaia. You search that side, I’ll search over here.” Kags commanded, walking down the steps closer to the well. I want this shit to be over and done with so we can get outta here, so I followed, but not before I stuck my tessen into my sleeve since I was leaving my bag up here. Would be good for the decades of dust in here.

“So uh, quick question. What’s with the bones on the floor?” I asked, side eyeing the large bones on the ground around the well as I moved boxes around. No cat yet. 

“Decorations, probably. Jiji says that this is called the Bone Eater’s Well. That villagers back in the Edo period threw demon bones down into it or something like that. Probably just used it to throw away food.”

“The Bone Eater’s Well? That’s a metal name.”

“Sounds tacky, in my opini-AH!”

Hearing Kags scream, I spun around, only to trip on some boxes and banged my side against the side of the well, a flash of pain searing through my left side.

“What?! What is it?!” I heard Souta yell.

“Its just Buyo.”

Hearing that, I groaned and laid back against a box, rolling my eyes so hard I could hear them.

“That scared me! Don’t scream like that!” Souta chastised. Okay, now I can hear Kags eyes roll.

“Why, you little-Gaia? Are you okay?”

I opened my eyes to see Kags kneeling in front of me, Buyo in her hands, looking as cute as always, though a bit smug. Shitter.

“I think I hurt myself when I fell.” I admitted, wincing when I tried to sit up, only to feel a pinch of fire on my left side, right on my ribs. That ain’t good. I hope I didn’t break a rib.

“Let me see, hold Buyo, troublesome cat.” Kags said, handing me Buyo. She lifted up the edge of my school blouse, sucking air through my teeth as she poked around the air.

“Yeah, its a cut. And you’re bleeding too. The wood tore right through your shirt. We’ll need Mama to look at it. I got some bandages in my bag but I don’t know if this will need stitches or not. Come on, I’ll help you up. Souta, go tell Mama that Gaia fell and hurt herself!” 

I heaved a heavy sigh at the not great news, giving Buyo a hard look.

“I hope you know that we did this for you. Be grateful.”

“Knowing him, he’s probably planning his next adventure to your house.” Kags remarked, wrapping one arm over her shoulder and helping me stand. Looking over at the well, I winced when I saw the small blood splatter now staining the wood. Damn.

“Sorry for getting blood on it.”

“Oh don’t worry about that old thing, Gaia. If it survived this long from the Edo period, then its not the first time. It’ll wash out.”

“What happened to Gaia? I saw her fall.” Souta asked from his spot on the stairs.

“Didn’t I just say to go get Mama?”

“Yeah, I’m-Uh, Kagome.” Souta called out, the pause and nervousness in his voice alerting me to something wrong. That bad feeling was now almost physically painful, screaming at me, my blood pounding in my ears like the steel pans from home.

‘What the hell is going on?!’

Looking back behind us, My eyes went to where the blood splatter had been, only to freeze with horror gripping me. It was…...gone?! It wasn’t there anymore? But that was the spot!

“Kagome.”

“Souta, stop trembling like a baby and go get Mama!”

“Kagome!

“Kagome!”

Before I could grasp reality, the cover of the well exploded, long pale arms shooting out of it and grabbing us with a steel grip and yanking us back into the well with it. It happened so fast and sudden, we didn’t even have time to scream!

“AHHHH!”

“KAGOME!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So just as a heads up since I forgot to say this in the previous chapter, I will be upholding weekly. It will be on Saturdays but this Saturday, I got an event to go to so y'all get an early chapter. Like it? Whack? Comment below. I love reading them.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The girls explore their new destination and are caught. Because they're idiots.

When I opened my eyes, we were….floating? We were surrounded by pale blue lights. Where did these come from? Weren’t we pulled through the well?

“Kagome! What’s going on?!” I shouted, me and Kagome still holding onto each other.

“I-I don’t know!”

Then suddenly, a weird looking lady floated up to us, the shit ton of arms connecting to her. 

‘Well, at least we found the source of the arms.’

Then she had the gall to go up to Kags’ face and lick her!

‘I want to return back to the previous 30 seconds where I didn’t see that.’

“How wonderful! I can feel my powers returning at last!”

Looking down, I saw that while her upper half was, well, not really human, her bottom half was absolutely not! It was a fucking centipede! So not only does she look ugly, she sounds ugly too! I tried to squirm out of her grip, but the hands just tightened more. Unfortunately, that brought her attention to me.

“Ahh, and another prize while I was at it. I should thank you for boosting my powers. Dragon’s blood is always such a treat.” She purred as she got waaay too close to my face, tongue licking a long line up the side of my face. Disgusting!

“Get the fuck off of me!” I screamed, thrashing against the hands to try to kick her. No use though. That only made the bitch laugh.

“So much fire and yet, so little strength. One of you have it, the Shikon Jewel! Give it to me!” She demanded, squeezing me and Kagome together and pulling us closer to her face.

“Let go of us!” Kagome screamed, managing to yank a hand out to push the creepy bitch away. Except that didn’t happen. A pink light shone from her hand. And the centipede lady was….afraid of it? What? Luckily, the bitch let go of us and disappeared. Then the light faded and we both were sitting on the ground at the bottom of the well.

“W……..What the fuck was that?! What just happened?!” I shouted, having my breakdown now that I, I hope, was safe.

“I…..I honestly don’t know. Did we both see that?”

“A creepy centipede bitch grabbing us and pulling us down the well and licking us and us floating in some sparkle place?! Yes, we both saw that!” I ranted, not even caring that my accent was front and center. She’s gonna hear me and she’s gonna hear ALL of me.

“Okay, so definitely not a dream. What’s the last thing you remember?”

“Besides the shit that just happened? Me and you standing in front of the well, you shouting at Souta to get your mom to come look at my cut. And yes, my cut is still there. Its reminding me of its existence.” I explained, holding back another flinch as the pain on my left side returned with a vengeance. Probably didn’t help that I was grabbed and thrown around like a damn doll.

“Yeah, I remember that too. Well, at least we’re back now.” Kags said with a heavy sigh, tension leaving her shoulders.

“Uh, Kags? I wouldn’t think that. Look.” I interjected, pointing at the top.

“Look at what? I don’t see anything.”   
“Exactly, no roof. Its outside.”

“You’re...right. We need to get out of here. Can you stand?” Kags said, standing up. 

“I think so. Give me a hand.”

Kags helped me stand up, though not without some pain.

“So, how do we get out of here?”

“With those vines. They climb all the way up to the top.” Kags pointed out, pointing at the long path of vines that wrapped around the stones of the walls. Slowly turning my head, I gave Kagome the most deadpan expression I could express at the moment.

“So let me get this clear. You want me to climb out of this well….with vines.” I remarked in the flattest tone known to man.

“Yeah? What’s the…...oh. Right. Hehe, Sorry.” Kags apologized with a nervous laugh. I swear.

“I swear, Kags.”   
“Well, its not like there’s another way out of here. I promise I’ll bandage you up when we’re out.” Kags pleaded, giving me the human equivalent of puppy eyes. Ugh, by the time we’re home, I might as well be taken to a hospital with all the damage this is gonna do.

“Fine, fine. Let’s get this over with.”

“You first. If you slip, I’ll be able to catch you.”

“..........”

“Okay, I’ll be able to break your fall.”

“.........”

“Okay! Fine! At least I would be able to help you get up again.”

“That’s more honest. Well, here we go, I guess.” 

Oddly enough, the climb wasn’t too bad. I lost my footing a couple of times but the vines made good rope and I was able to hold on. That doesn’t mean it wasn’ tiring tho. I was panting by the time I made it up.

“Alright, I’m out, Kags!”

“Okay, I’m coming up!”

While waiting for her, I looked around our surroundings. Yeah, we’re nowhere near Tokyo. I don’t even think we’re in the same province anymore! 

‘How in the fuck did we get here?! In the countryside?!’

“How the fuck are we supposed to get home?”

“Who are you talking to?”

I looked back to see Kags climbing out of the well.

“God…...Myself…...Spirits…..who the fuck ever is listening.”

“Of course. Language.”

Language?! I think I’m allowed to curse in this situation! I rolled my eyes and surveyed the land more closely, Kags walking over to stand next to me. The place was pretty, I’ll give it that. Colorful flowers, vibrant green trees everywhere, green grass, and a small village down the hill-wait, what? 

“Why is there a village there?”

“I don’t know but maybe we can get help down there. Come on!” Kags barely gave me a second to comprehend what she said before taking off down the hill.

“Wha?! Hey, wait, Kags!”

I ran after her, well more like jogged. By the time I caught up with her, she was standing by a large tree.   
“Kags!”

“What?”

“The hell you run off for?”

“I didn’t run off, you’re just too slow.”   
One of these days, she’s gonna get sassy and I’m gonna smack her up the head. And I won’t be sorry.

“Why, you little r-Who’s that?” I cut myself off from my upcoming rant to bring attention to the boy attached to the tree. He was pinned to it by an arrow in his shoulder, roots curled around his body. He didn’t look….dead. He looked as if he were sleeping.

“I don’t know, I found him here.”

It was only after we climbed up closer that we noticed something...weird. He had dog ears. On his head. Now, the white hair while young looking was already weird, but this? This is something not possible. But yet, here we are! Me and Kags glanced at each other.

“You thinking what I’m thinking?”

“Absolutely.”

We each reached out to one ear and rubbed them. It felt real. And soft, like my blanket. God, this was so weird!

“Well, now that we got that out of our system, we need to get back to Tokyo.”

“And how in the hell are we supposed to get back to Tokyo? When, by all accounts, we should still BE in Tokyo?” I questioned, giving her a look. There are no roads or cars, so we can’t drive. No ocean, so we can’t sail and I haven’t heard a single plane in the last hour.

“I don’t know! Things have been kinda crazy lately!”

“Kinda crazy is putting it lightly.” I sassed before I saw something out of the corner of my eye move. That odd feeling was back. Turning, I saw a guy aiming something at us. Is that a fucking arrow?!

“Kagome, move!” I shouted, throwing myself at her and making us both fall off the tree onto the ground, dodging the arrow. 

“Are you okay?!”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” 

Looking back, I saw that there were more people and they all had bows and arrows. Aimed at us.

“Shitshitshitshit! Fuck this!” I shouted, getting up and running into the forest, mind completely focused on survival. I did not survive 14 years of life and a creepy ass centipede bitch just to die being shot by arrows, for fucks sake!

I may not be the most athletic person, but adrenaline be working wonders! Unfortunately, I committed the most dumbass mistake of all time. I tripped over a tree root.

“Ow! Fuck!”

And me swearing loudly didn’t help hiding me either. The men caught up to me, tying my hands and feet.

“Ow, what are you doing?! Stop that! Let go of me, you fuckers!”

“Silence, demon!”

What? What did they just call me?

“Excuse me?! What did you just call me?!” I snarled at them, causing a few of them to recoil away, fear shining in their eyes. Good, let them be afraid. 

“Take it to Priestess Kaede!”

“When I get loose, y’all gonna wish you didn-mgfh!” Before I could finish my threat, a piece of cloth was shoved into my mouth and tied around my head. 

‘You fucking bastards!’

I continued to wiggle around and struggle, but the men were still able to grab a hold of me and carried me down to the village. I thrashed and screamed through the gag but no dice. Thankfully, I was eventually put down on the ground. And by put down, I mean thrown!

“Rhagerr ergh iwell chell uor!”

“Gaia! There you are!”

Cutting off my intelligible rant, I turned my head to see Kags sitting next to me, hands and legs also tied up. Damn, she got caught too.

“Heff Kass-OW!” I garbled out, only to yell when I got a harsh kick in my leg.

“That’s for leaving!”

“I panficthed!”

“And left me!”

“Drgh, sottfy” I apologized with an eye roll. Kags can be so dramatic sometimes. I didn’t “leave” her, I ran, assuming that she was running too. Turning my head, I was able to see all the villagers gathered around us. And...Now, I’m not an expert on Japanese history, but their clothes didn’t look like the traditional clothes made in the modern time. It looked rough, simple, and some of them were tattered at the edges or smudged with dirt. They looked like actual oddly time village people.

“Clear the way for High Priestess Kaede!”

Turning around, I saw people making way for an old woman wearing a white shirt and a red hakama, making her way toward us with a bow in hand. 

‘I hope she doesn’t use it on us. We’re already tied up!’

Luckily, she handed it to another man and pulled out a bowl from her sleeve. What the? How is that even possible? She then had the gall to throw some of whatever was in the bowl on us.

“Begone demons!”

I accidentally inhaled some and ended up sneezing loudly which was hard to do when you’re gagged!

“Stop that! We’re not demons!” Kags spoke up, shaking her head to get the grains of whatever out of her eyes and hair before glaring up at the old woman.

“Are ye not?”

“No! I’m pretty sure we’re humans!”

“Then who are ye? Why were ye found in Inuyasha’s forest?”

‘Inuyasha’s Forest? I have never heard of such a place! Is this lady pulling our leg?’ I mused confusedly since I couldn’t speak. I was waiting for Kags to answer but only got silence. Then the old woman got a weird look in her eye, leaning closer to Kags.

“Hn? Let me see your face clearly, hmm, try to look more intelligent.”

Its also hard to laugh with a gag in your mouth, so you end up coughing. That got me a glare from Kags, but ain’t shit she can do to me now.

“It can’t be….You resemble Kikyou-onee-sama.”

‘Who?’

The old woman started to go on this long tangent about Kikyou who apparently used to be a priestess who protected this village. Only to then be killed 50 years ago by a demon. Yikes. Eventually, my adrenaline wore off and I started to crash, my eyes repeatedly sliding closed.

  
  
  


It was the scent of food wafting into my nose that woke me up. Groggily opening my eyes, I was greeted with the sight of a wooden bowl in front of me.

‘Explains the smell’ I thought sleepily, rising up to sit and stretch, yawning. Taking up the bowl, I took a quick peek inside and was pleased to see it looked and smelled like miso soup. Or something similar to it. I was about to take a sip but someone decided that it was a good time to annoy me.

“Evening child.”

I was way too tired to socialize, so I only gave her a look and continued to eat.

“Gaia is not one for conversation when she just woke up.”

‘There’s Kags.’ I mentally checked off, giving her a thumbs up, still eating. I let out a deep sigh of relief when I finished, now content.

“That was good. Arigatou.”

“Ye are welcome, child.”

Now properly awake, I did a quick survey of the area I’m in. Seems like I’m in a wooden hut, Kaede, Kagome and I sitting around a hearth. By the looks of everything, there’s no electricity in here at all.

“Soooo, what was the deal about demons?”

“In this time of war, travelers are unwelcome and are trusted by no one.” Kaede explained, poking the logs in the hearth to keep the fire going.

“We really aren’t in Tokyo then.” Kags mumbled, probably to herself. Even then, I gave her a look. Come on, Kags!

“Only now you notice?”

I only had a split second to comprehend her annoyed expression before she decided to smack my arm.

“Owwwwuh!” I complained exaggeratedly. It didn’t hurt at all, I just feel like being annoying.

“Ugh, you’re impossible sometimes.”

“That’s my job.” I shot back with a grin. Only for my grin to fall off when that impending sense of foreboding returned alongside that bad feeling from before. Considering the last time I got these feelings, we got pulled into a fucking magical well by some creepty Centibitch, I’m starting to think I should listen to these feelings. What is the unnamed one though? Is it some type of instinct?

“Gaia? What is it?” Kags asked, noticing the look of unease on my face. I held a hand up to stop her, attention now completely on….whatever is setting these feelings off. I then placed my hand on the guard, my eyes widening when I realized I felt….something. Vibrations? I directed my attention to the objects hanged on the wall, only to be more confused when I saw them completely still. 

‘Not an earthquake then. So what the hell?’ I pondered, bewildered by all this new shit happening, only to freeze in realization.

“There’s something underground.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all are enjoying the story thus far! Things are gonna start picking up from here on out. 
> 
> College is kicking my ass but I'm doing my best to keep a consistent schedule for this story and the holidays are gonna be here soon, thank goodness. I'm sad about Unnus Anus ending but it was worth it. A hell of a year. Let's hope we get more positives from this year. Memento mori, y'all.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mistress Centipede returns for her prizes. But Gaia soon discovers that she has some tricks up her own sleeve. Ones that she didn't even know about, hidden away.

Right after I said that chilling statement, loud crashing noises coming from outside.We only gave each other a single horrified look before dashing outside.It was absolute chaos. Horses were running about, in a panic, villagers were running about screaming and crying, also in a panic, some of the houses were on fire; and in the middle of it all, rising high in the sky, was the Centibitch. With a fucking horse in her mouth!

“Holy shit!” I screamed, a reasonable reaction. Only to complain when I got a hard knock on my arm from Kags.

“Ow! What the hell did you hit me for?!”

“Don’t curse!”

Of all things, Kags!?

“Fuck that! Ow! Stop hitting me!”

“Then stop cursing! We’ve talked about this!”

“Fine!” Its not worth the waste of energy to argue with her on this. That's when the Centibitch looked at us, eyes narrowed in, what I think, is disdain.

“Give me the Shikon Jewel!”

Ah shit, not that bullshit again!

“The Shikon Jewel? You have it?” Kaede asked, looking at Kagome and I. 

“You know what it is?!” I shouted in both alarm and shock.

“I-I don’t know but-” Kagome stopped herself mid sentence, a look of terror and determination on her face. That’s when a couple of men ran up to Kaede, battered and bruised and carrying spears.

“High Priestess! Nothing is stopping her! We’ve tried all our methods and nothing is slowing her down!”

‘Shit, that’s not what I need to hear right now.’ I complained with a wince.

“Then we must herd it to the Bone Eater’s Well!”

The Well? A flash of the well from Kagome’s home appeared in my mind. The same well we got pulled down into! Glancing at Kagome, I can tell she was thinking the same thing.

“Where’s the well?!” Kagome asked urgently.

“In the Forest of Inuyasha!”

“Which way?”

“To the East!”

“Where the light is, right? Gaia, come on!” Kagome urged after asking Kaede the direction, taking off towards the forest.

‘Light? What light?! What does she mean come on?! She wants me to-You know, fuck it. Just follow her’ I internally argued with my sense of self preservation before booking it after Kagome. Looking back, I saw that Centibitch had the same idea and was practically flying after us. 

‘Shitshitshitshitshit!’

“Kagome, where do we go?!” I shouted over the drumming of my pulse in my ear. Kagome better have a fucking plan.

“We need to lead it away from the village and head to the well!” She shouted back, swerving to avoid hitting trees. That’s her plan!? I was leaping, jumping, vaulting over branches, stumps, and various tangled bush, not willing to repeat my previous mistake. All those years of dealing with the wild deep bush back in St.Thomas is really paying off. Thank god I was still wearing my sneakers and didn’t switch to my school loafers. Or else, I’d be having a lot more trouble like Kagome. I couldn't hear anything over the sound of my panicked breathing and the whipping of the leaves and trees passing by, so I chanced another look back. And I really wished I hadn’t.

Centibitch was tearing through the trees like they were nothing, her mandibles exposed as she clawed her way towards us. Turning forward again, I caught a glimpse of a big fallen log in my way, another obstacle. Doing as before, I hopped onto it and leapt up into the air, already mentally planning to keep running behind Kagome. Of course, Fate decided I needed a detour.

Because right then, the log that I had just jumped off of was smashed into bits by Centibitch barreling through it, appearing under me.

“Fuck!” I screamed, panicking as I quickly tried to shift my body to the side to avoid landing on top of her. I didn’t completely fail, but I sure as fuck didn’t completely succeed. My back was slammed on the edge of one of her giant legs before being thrown off into the forest and slammed into a tree. 

My vision became a hazy mess of blurred colors and motion, my head full of cotton, and a loud ringing in my ears. I couldn’t feel my individual limbs, my whole body just a big blur of aches and pain. I feel like I’ve been thrown across a football field into a wall with the force of a fucking truck. Blinking open my eyes, it took awhile for my vision to stop spinning and return back to normal, allowing me to see that I was in a clearing and sprawled amongst some big tree roots. I was definitely not running through here before.

‘Damn, so I guess I did get thrown across a football field.’ I clarified to myself with a harsh wince, twitching my fingers. Got all ten, fingers and toes. Doing good then. I sat up, only to let out a hiss of pain when spots of burning pain reared up in various parts of my body. Especially on my side.

“Shit, I forgot about you. I should’ve gotten this looked at.” I grumbled, not giving a fuck that I’m talking to myself. After what I’ve suffered, I deserve some peace. Looking up, I saw that I was sprawled across the roots of the tree with the boy attached. Oh, I definitely got launched!

“That bitch.”

“Somebody help me!” I heard Kagome’s scream, getting another wince from me. I wanted so badly to move, but physically couldn’t without pain.

‘Sorry, Kags.’ I thought, already mourning over what’s gonna happen. I tried to blink away the tears appearing in my eyes, but couldn’t. Why bother? My friend was about to be eaten by some centipede demon, maybe so was I, stuck faraway back in time, unable to get back to our families, alone. I’m allowed to mourn my losses.

But before I could properly start crying, I felt….something. I don’t know what it was, but it brought back that bad unnamed feeling from before. Then I heard something move behind me.

‘God please, not again.’ I inwardly begged, cringing and yet preparing myself, turning my head to look. Only to freeze in shock.

The boy was awake. He was alive. Something in me told me that wasn’t good news.

“I can smell her. The woman who killed me.” I heard him growl, a shiver running down my spine at the pure malice in his voice. And of course, my fucking mouth didn’t get the mental memo of shutting the fuck up.

“Seems like she didn’t do a good job.” I mouthed at him, mentally cringing. Mama always did say that my mouth would get me into trouble. That drew the boy’s attention to me, his golden eyes narrowing as he….sniffed me? What the?

“What’s a dragon demoness doing in the West?” He asked, looking down his nose at me. And not because he was higher than me. I looked around, looking for whoever he was referring to, only to realize that he meant me.

“Me?”

“Yes, you! Is there anyone else here I’m talking to!”

The loud volume pounded my ears, making my face scrunch up in distaste.

“Listen, I honestly don’t give a fuck. I’m not obligated to answer your stupid question, especially if you insult me like that. So fuck off and go back to sleep or whatever.” I shot back, my already bad mood growing worse. We ended up glaring at each other, both unable to move to physically handle each other. Only to be interrupted when the sound of something moving in the forest grew louder.

“Fucking shit! Not now!”

Only to be surprised when Kags came flying out of the forest and fell in front of me.

“Kagome!”

“Gaia! Oh my god, you’re okay!” She shouted, running over to me.

“I would definitely not say “okay” but I’m still breathing and have mental function.” I replied, giving her a hopefully encouraging grin. I can see her face screw up into a look of worry and fear, tears welling up in her eyes.

“All I heard was you screaming and I looked back and saw her throwing you somewhere in the forest so hard and I thought....I thought-”

“Its okay, Kags. I’m alive. We’re alive.” I reassured her, squeezing her hand. I couldn’t blame her for thinking I was dead. I felt dead for a while.

“Why is such a wimpy centipede opponent giving you such trouble?”

Ugh forgot about the shitstain on the tree. Kagome’s attention turned to him, a look of confusion appearing on her face. Again, I don’t blame her.

“You’re…..awake.”

“Settle this with a single blow, Kikyou. Just like when you killed me.” He continued, giving Kagome a leery grin. God, his face looks so fucking punchable.

“Kikyou? What are you saying? My name is-”

“Its here.”

“What?” Both Kagome and I asked out loud, looking around. The bad feeling was back and stronger now. Shit, does that mean Centibitch-

Before I could finish my thought, the woman of the hour dropped on top of us out of nowhere!

“AHHH!”   
“HOLY!”

For a second, I thought we were finished right then, Centibitch’s clawed hands too close to our faces. Before she could grab us, flying arrows stabbed themselves into her side, ropes attached to them.

“Wha?”

“Pull!”

Looking behind her, I saw the village men holding the ropes, keeping her still. Letting out a sigh of relief, I relaxed against the roots.

“Saved.” Kagome mumbled.

“For now.” I added, eyeing those ropes. We literally just saw her destroy houses and hold an entire horse with just her mouth. I don’t have too much confidence in those.

“Hmph, I’m disappointed, Kikyou.”

Why is he still flapping his mouth?! Fuck off!

“Listen here! You’re mistaking me for someone else! I’m not this Kikyou person!” Kagome yelled at him, climbing up the tree roots. 

‘Wait a damn minute, is she LEAVING ME?!’ I mentally raged, eye twitching as I watched Kags climb the tree to tell the boy off. Yes Kags, leave your injured friend here on the ground. Great idea!

Grumbling, I summoned up my motivation and grabbed some nearby roots and used them to pull me up. Hooooly fuck! Everything hurts! My thighs and claves were burning, I had cuts and bruises scattered all over, my back ached, and I was covered in leaves, dirt, and some vines. I look like I’ve been ran over. I can still move though, so that’s a positive. Slowly, I made my way up the tree where Kags was yelling at shitstain.

“You’re right, Kikyou is far more intelligent….and prettier.” I heard shitstain mumble. 

“Don’t kill him yet, Kags. I rather see him suffer being stuck here.” I advised from next to her, glaring at the boy. Harsh, but honest.

A loud sound behind us was all the warning we got before Kagome was being grabbed by multiple hands and picked up. I was able to grab her sleeve, while she was able to grab….the boy’s hair. 

‘Serves him right, fuckwad.’ I gloated, suppressing the urge to grin.

“Let go of me!”

“Ow ow ow, you leggo of ME!” The boy yelled at her.

“I told you those ropes wouldn’t last!” I yelled at her, trying my best to hold onto her.

“This body is very troublesome. I’ll just devour you whole, jewel and all!” Centibitch hissed at us, her face transforming a bit to allow her mouth to open wider, revealing all of her sharp teeth.

“Let go of ME!” Kagome screamed at her, shoving her hand in her face. The pink light thing happened again, this time brighter than before. What on earth is that? 

Then Centibitch’s arms fell off! 

I wasn’t able to give that too much thought since because of that, Kagome was dropped, taking me down with her. We rolled down the roots of the tree and landed on the ground. I stifled a cry as my wounds and bruises were jostled and hit during the fall. I heard something fall in front of me and opened my eyes to see my fan lying on the ground. It had remained in my sleeve the whole time? Now that’s some magical shit.

“Gaia! Are you okay?”

“Fine. Let’s just focus on the-”

“You damn bitch!” Looking up, I watched in horror as Centibitch screamed and dove for us, mouth open and sharp teeth bared. For some foolish reason, the sight of those teeth and claws coming for us with no help around stirred something in me. I felt some odd sort of...pressure build up in my chest. My entire body, actually. For a split second, time slowed down, all sounds fading away except the beat of my own heart. The pressure continued to build, until I could almost hear it in my ears. 

‘I want to go home.’ I thought, the thought echoing loudly.

‘I want to survive.’ I continued, my hand lowering until it was on the ground next to my hand. Something about that thought, about this situation, about my position, made me angry. Made some sort of fire spark in my chest.

“I will survive.” I say, not realizing I was saying it out loud. Without being aware of it, I grabbed my fan, snapping it open. The pressure numbed all my senses, even my sense of touch. It felt like I wasn’t completely in control of myself anymore, as if I was someone else. I stood up, facing the Centibitch coming right for us. I didn’t feel any fear, or nervousness, anxiety or pain. Just that burning fire and that building pressure.

“ **Or I will die trying** .” I declared, self assuredly, as I swung my fun in a wide arch in front of me.

With that, I felt something in me snap open, and all the pressure that had been building up, to almost unbearable heights, exploded out of me. It felt like a roaring hurricane, a rampaging river, took shelter in my body, the roar of thunder in my ears. The hurricane spread out through my body, extending all the way down to my hands and my fan. And from my fan, erupted a windstorm.

I watched, amazed, as the windstorm slammed into the centipede woman with a force that I felt like could match the amount she threw me with. She was knocked back all the way over the clearing, into the forest, taking a good amount of trees down with her, a loud bang filling the air over the sound of the wind and snapping trees.

I watched, absolutely stunned by what I did. Did I do that? The way the wind curled around me, almost like a cat winding around the legs of his owner, told me yes. The way I could still feel the hurricane running amok under my skin, its power curling at my fingertips, ready to be unleashed again, told me yes. The way Kagome stared at me with shock, surprise and disbelief written all over her face, also told me yes.

“G...Gaia. Did-Did you just..?” Kags trailed off, raising a shaking finger to point at the area of downed trees where Centibitch was thrown.

“....I..guess?” I responded back, not quite a complete answer. I can’t be blamed, I’m still reeling from that! 

“You impertinent brat!” The Centibitch’s scream interrupted our questioning, crawling out of her bed of destruction and glaring at me with venomous eyes.

‘Oh shit.’

Before any of us could react, she swung her giant tail at us, slamming into me and slamming me against the tree, right next to the boy. I wiggled as much as I could but it wouldn’t fucking budge! I could only watch helplessly as Centibitch went after Kagome again.

“Kagome!”

I screamed as I watched Centibitch snatch Kagome up in her teeth by her waist, sinking into horror as I saw the white of Kagome’s blouse grow redder under the bitch’s teeth.

‘NO!’

The centipede woman shook her head around like a rabid dog, waving Kagome around in the air like a beaten doll, before throwing her at the base of the tree I was tied to. When she was thrown however, I saw something come out from the wound in her side. I ignored it however to focus on Kagome who was laying on the ground, face blank. Fuck, she’s probably going into shock. 

“KAGOME!” I called out, trying to bring her attention away from her bleeding, clawing at the tail keeping me pinned.

‘Get this bitch OFF OF ME!’ I demanded, crying out to the power whirling under my skin to do something. Anything!

I got my wish. One second I was being held against the tree, the next, I’m falling on the ground, a rain of blood and gore falling around me. 

“What the fuck just-No, fuck it. Kagome!” I shouted, pushing back my questions to focus on the girl next to me, who was now sitting up and staring at me.

“Gaia, how did you-”   
“Later. Lemme see your wound.” I cut her off, turning her so I could see where the Centibitch bit her, only to wince when I caught sight of it. It did not look good at all. She’s going to need a hospital, fast. We need to get home!

“Is it..?”

“Not good, gonna be straight with you. And you’re bleeding heavily. I have nothing to wrap it with.” I explained, eyes narrowing in irritation. I couldn’t use my shirt because 1 I have nothing underneath besides my bra, 2 It’s stained with my blood, and 3 wouldn’t do shit. Before I could say anything else, our attention was caught by Centibitch hissing at me.

“You’ll pay for that, you little lizard brat!”

‘Lizard brat? Really?’ Was the only thought I could make before Kagome and I were slammed back onto the tree by her tail. Only this time, the tail kept squeezing. 

‘Shitshitshitshit!’ I panicked, gritting my teeth as Kagome’s elbow was forced to dig into my own side wound.

“Just as I thought. She was hiding it in her body.” I heard Centibitch hiss behind me, unable to be seen because my face was being squished against the bark of the tree.

“Oi! That’s mine, you bitch!”

Of course that shitstain is more concerned with something fucking else than the big issue in front of him.

“Kehehehe, I have heard that some hanyou brat named Inuyasha or whatever is after the Shikon Jewel. Is that you?”

Judging by the surprised look on his face, that was a yes. This is Inuyasha? 

“Don’t underestimate, Centipede Jourou. When I fight seriously, a bitch like you is just a small fry.”

‘Talking all this shit but motherfucker can’t even move!’ I rolled my eyes so hard, they would’ve fallen out of my head. Luckily for me, Kags voiced my thoughts.

“You had all that big talk earlier but...are you strong?”

I can already feel the fucker’s hackles rise, no doubt ready to jump to his defense, but was cut off by Centibitch.

“Can’t move, can you? It seems like your power is sealed, isn’t it?” She taunted, the grin obvious in her voice.

‘AND this dumbass is sealed and can’t move? And he still had the gall to open his mouth and talk his shit? Wack.’

“Now you just stay there and watch.” I heard Centibitch say before doing something behind me, the grass rustling with movement. What is she doing?

“No! The jewel!”

If I have to hear this idiot scream about the jewel again, I’m gonna kill him myself. I grew more and more afraid as I was stuck listening to the sounds of something tearing and moving. Ooooh, fuck, what is that bitch doing?

“Kagome, what’s happening? I can’t see behind me.”

“Uh…..I don’t think you want to know.”

That’s not the answer I need nor want to hear! That implies some nasty shit is happening!

“How wonderful! My full powers have returned.”

Is it just me or did Centibitch’s voice get worse?! And her tail is squeezing harder! I feel like my ribs are gonna break. Maybe that’s her game plan.

“If you pulled this arrow out, this thing would be dead already.”

Dude, fuck off! We’re being squished by some ugly centipede monster bitch, Kags is practically bleeding to death, I’m probably not too far behind her and injured, and you’re worrying about some godforsaken jewel?! Fuck all the way off!

“Pull out this arrow and I can kill her.”

At that moment, the tail tightened more, making all my injuries scream out in pain along with my ribs and lungs. And judging by the wheezing Kagome was doing, she was feeling the same thing. At this rate, we’ll be strangled to death!

“Do you wanna live or do you want to die?” He prompted, taking advantage. Kagome hesitated before looking at me, giving me the same choice. If you could really call it that. I resolved to live and make it home and I’m willing to take any chances.

“Fucking do it, Kags! Ah! We don’t really have a choice.” I wheezed out as I slowly started to lose feeling in my toes. Whatever beef he got with the villagers, they’ll all have to get over it.

“You must not! That arrow is Inuyasha’s seal! He must not be freed!” I heard Kaede’s voice cry out, making me utter a low growl. Old lady, are you the one being strangled to death by a centipede?!

“You half asleep, Babaa?! Do you want to become centipede bait? If that thing completely absorbs the Shikon Jewel, that’s the end!”

‘For you or for us?’ I questioned, only to cry out when the tail tightened again.

“So how about it, girls, you wanna die with me?”

With you? You’re beyond calm right now and talking all that shit earlier! Kagome look conflicted for a few seconds, but another yell from me as the tail tightened again made her expression shift into one of determination as she wrapped her hand around the arrow shaft.

“Revive, Inuyasha!”

‘Don’t make us regret this!’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this chapter came a bit later than usual. I overslept so I wasn't able to have it out to y'all in the early morning. Hope y'all are staying safe out there. Gaia....is not having the best time right now. And some secrets are popping out that aren't adding up to her. Time to do some math, Gaia!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now with Inuyasha freed, Gaia faces her next challenge. Will she win and if she does, at what cost to herself?  
> What new things will she discover about herself this time.
> 
> Warning: This chapter deals with racism, cultural misunderstanding and briefly talks about racism training Gaia went through by her family. If that type of content is triggering or uncomfortable, especially to any black fans reading this, please skip this chapter.

As Kagome grabbed and pulled on the arrow, for some reason, it didn’t pull out. Instead, it started to glow pink and fade away. Before I could blink, a big gust of wind picked up and Kagome and I were sent flying! We landed a few feet away from the tree, coughing as air finally rushed into our sore lungs. Free at last!

Opening one eye, I watched amazed as Inuyasha defeated Centibitch with only one swipe of his claws, tearing right through her like a hot knife through butter.

‘Woah...Okay, I guess it wasn’t all shitalking.’ And damn, what a blow to my pride admitting that was. As the pieces of Centibitch fell around us, I noticed that they were fucking moving! What the fuck?!

“No way! It’s still moving!” Kagome mumbled in awe, staring at where the top half of Centibitch’s head laid, her eyes moving around. God, that’s disgusting.

“Do you see a glowing piece of flesh? The Shikon Jewel should be in that. If we don’t remove the Jewel, the demon will revive again and again!” Kaede called out to us, making us jump.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Kagome murmured in dismay.

“I wish. But unfortunately, they’re not.” I replied, wrinkling my nose at the movement of the remains. I didn’t see anything glowing though. What is she talking about?

“There! I see it!” I heard Kagome yell before getting up and walking over to an unrecognizable piece of what I believe was Centibitch’s legs. Still no light. How the fuck did she know?

Limping my way over to Kags, I watched as she pulled out what looked like a small purple pink marble.

“That’s the Shikon Jewel?” I asked, examining it. It looked….about average. Actually, now that I think about it, it looks exactly like the gemstone my Mom found during her hike. The one that’s supposed to be Kag’s birthday gift. Yet, this one came from...inside Kags? This is all getting weirder and weirder.

“Yeah. Apparently, it actually makes demons stronger.”

“Exactly. To a human, its just a useless thing.”

We looked up as Inuyasha drew closer, my skin prickling as I saw the look in his eyes. Bloodthirst.

“Now, unless you two want to become victims of my claws, be good girls and hand over the Shikon Jewel.”

I can’t say I’m surprised, because I’m not. I knew the fucker would backstab us as soon as he cleared his other opponent. The only reason he did it at all was to get the jewel. 

“Kagome, do not hand it over. That Jewel is an unholy jewel” Kaede warned from behind us.

‘No fucking shit, a jewel that amplifies demonic power is bound to be unholy.’ I rolled my eyes, bad mood rising again. Grabbing my fan, I took a step to stand in front of Kagome, glaring at Inuyasha.

“You’ll have to get through me first, Dog boy.” I taunted, holding my fan tightly, reading to swing. The hurricane had died down to a mild thunderstorm when I was trapped by Centibitch but was now picking back up into the raging hurricane it was at first, the tips of my fingers almost burning from the power rushing into them, prepared for me to unleash it. And I had the perfect practice dummy for it.

“You?! Ha! You couldn’t even take down that centipede demon.” He sneered, his smirk making that fire in my chest burn hotter.

“That’s cuz before, I didn’t know what I was doing. Now, now it's for real. You’d make a nice practice dummy. You already are in terms of brain.” I explained, adding a bit of taunting to goad him. If there’s one thing I learned from fighting, it's to never attack first.

“Well then, let’s test that out.” He said before charging at me, slashing down at my face. Only to be blown back and slammed into a tree when I swung my fan.

“Kagome, go find somewhere to hide or run. I’ll take care of the pooch.” I threw over my shoulder, not taking my eyes off of Inuyasha.

“But...Gaia, what about you? It’s my job to take care of you and you’re already seriously hurt!”

“Don’t worry about me right now! Go!”

Kagome gave me one last hesitant look before running off into the forest. Hopefully she’ll be safe there. With my full attention now on Inuyasha, I raised my fan again, grinning widely as the power thrummed in my veins.

“Let’s dance, Dog boy.”

He came at me again, making me leap to the side to avoid the harsh slice that would’ve taken off my face. As soon as my feet touched the ground, I did a sharp swipe right, blowing another strong barrel of wind at him.

‘I can’t win by just blowing him back and knocking him around. I need something lethal. Sharper.’ I mused, narrowing my eyes as I momentarily concentrated on the storm in my body. Feeling a sharp spike in power, I quickly swiped my fan down, aiming the wind blast at his center mass, this time picturing sharp crescent shaped blades that would slice through him. I watched, amazed, as that very thing happened, the barrel of strong wind splitting up and compressing into glowing silver blades of wind. And judging by the expression of shock on his face, Inuyasha didn’t expect that.

The wind pushed him back into a tree while the blades tore through his clothes. Except, they didn’t rip? 

‘What?! How the hell? I aimed right at his chest! Did I miss?’

Judging by the tumbling down sliced tree trunks around him, no. His clothes must be some sort of protective material. 

“You’re tougher than you look, huh?” He called out, dusting himself off.

“As you said yourself; Don’t underestimate me.” I threw his words back into his face, body tensing in preparation to dodge if he charges again. I had no idea what I was doing, having never been in a fight of this caliber, but I sure wasn't gonna let HIM see that.

“I don’t get it, though.”

“Get what?”

“Why a demon like you would care so much about some human girl. Your kind especially. I always thought you guys treated humans like servants.” 

It took everything in me not to storm over and knock the shit out of him, my fists tightening in anger. How dare he say that about me! 

‘A demon like me?! My kind?! You guys?! I knew I would face racism here but I didn’t think it’d be thrown in my face so casually! Is that what he thinks I am? Some “Other”? Some monster?!’ Just the thought of people, ANYONE, thinking of me like that simply because of the way I look stung deeply, making angry tears well up in my eyes. Don’t get me wrong, I was warned. I was warned by my family and friends that once I moved to a place like Japan, I would have to deal with things like this. It is the reason why my Mom and I practiced every night before moving on covering up and suppressing our accents. It is the reason why Mom warned me many times about my mouth and my quick temper. It is the reason why I was taught to pick my battles very carefully. With my skin color, it's impossible not to know why. But I didn’t think that in this situation, that I would have it thrown in my face like a used washcloth!

Coming back to reality, I noticed that the wind has suddenly picked up wildly and the sky has grown heavy with dark clouds. Something about that pushed me forward, goaded me.

“ **Fine. You want to see a demon, I’ll show you what a real demon looks like** .” I growled darkly, my face shifting into a deceivingly calm expression, as stormy as the now deliriously swirling storm under my skin. Now, it was worse than when I first unlocked it, to the point where it felt like lightning was crackling under my veins and thunder drummed on my bones.

Inuyasha nervously took a step back but I wasn’t going to let him escape. Not anymore. I sprinted towards him, going faster than what should’ve been possible, but not caring, my blood singing too loudly for me to care about anything else other than ripping off his head.

Everything after that became a blur. All I heard and was aware of was the pounding in my head, heat in my chest, storm in my skin and my red target under my fists. One moment I was grabbing him by his hair and slamming his head into the ground, another I was clawing at his face, the next I’m biting my teeth into the flesh of his hand. I didn’t care a fuck about what I had to do,  **I just wanted him DEAD** .

‘ **Killhimkillhimkillhimkillhim-** ’

“GAIA!”

That voice. I know that voice.

“GAIA!”

‘Kagome?’

With the dark chanting calling for death fading away from my mind, I slowly started to come out of the red haze that covered my mind, the hurricane under my skin calming down a bit. Blinking my eyes, I was finally able to see what was happening around me. Standing in front of me, shaking a little, was Kagome. She looked terrified, eyes wide as she stared at me.

“Ka….Kagome?”

“Gaia? Are you back?”

Back? I didn’t leave though. Kagome was the one I sent to leave. So why was she back?

“Uhh….Yeah, I guess so.”

“Okay...Okay. Could you….get off of him now? I promise he won’t get up again.”

‘He?’

I looked down, only to freeze in shock at what I saw. I was crouching over Inuyasha’s chest, fist poised to punch his face. His already bloody face. Getting up and taking a few steps back from his battered form, I raised my head and looked around, only to be shocked more.

“Kagome…..What happened?” I asked slowly, slowly taking in my surroundings. We had to be in a different part of the forest. We had to be in a different clearing. A clearing where the villagers get the logs for their houses with all the downed and sliced trees scattered everywhere. A place where they do crops with all the dug up dirt and holes everywhere. It had to be. There was no other reasonable explanation.

“I...You...I think you...lost control.”

With those words, my legs went weak and all the energy I once had disappeared into thin air. Suddenly, my body felt too heavy for me and my head started to feel like it was being filled with cotton.

“Ka..go..me”

“Gaia!”

I was gone before I hit the ground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! Hope y'all had a good Thanksgiving. I didn't update last week since it was during a holiday and didn't want to do any work during that weekend. Expect the same with Christmas. But holiday over and with only a few weeks til the next holiday, let's get this story back in gear!
> 
> About that last bit between Gaia and Inuyasha, I'm gonna be honest with y'all. As a black girl, you're taught certain things at a young age for your safety. Presenting a more "proper" version of yourself in front of nonblacks, being one of them. Some of y'all may be familiar with the term, "Codeswitching". Changing your accent, basically. That is what Gaia does and was taught to do. The way Gaia speaks with Kagome and in public in Japan is waaaaay different than how she speaks at home or with other black friends. Not because of lack of trust, but just because she's taught that way and still wants to feel Kagome out this early in their friendship. Don't worry, things will change throughout the story and misunderstandings will be cleared up.
> 
> Now about Inuyasha's words, No, he didn't mean it in a racist way. He means it in a different way that you will find out about later. But how is Gaia supposed to know that? You can't say "your kind" to a black person and NOT expect them to take it in a racist way. That kind of language has always been the racist dog whistle.  
> And he was trying to kill her, sooo, I wouldn't call it a stretch or an overreaction.
> 
> Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and this little cultural lesson. Leave your comments down below and thank you to everyone who left a kudos or bookmarked this story. It means a lot. See y'all next time!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gaia awakes and is slammed with new information about herself and Kagome. She is not too happy about Inuyasha being around and is ready to give him another piece of her mind as he starts getting a little too comfortable around them.

When I slowly started to wake up, the first thing that registered was that my head hurt like a bitch and my body felt….off.Like something in it changed that wasn’t there before. What the fuck?

“Ugh...w..what happened?” I mumbled blindly, my eyes still closed as more feeling returned into my body. I blinked open my eyes to see the ceiling of what looked like a shack. Suddenly, Kags face filled up my entire vision.

“Are you alright, Gaia?”

I tried to sit up, only to lay back down when I was hit with a dizzy spell, wincing.

“Yeah, I guess. Are you okay?” I asked, rubbing my head as I looked up at her. Weirdly, she gave me a large grin and pointed behind her. Confused, I looked over her shoulder, raising an eyebrow. Only to jump up into a defensive position when I saw what was behind her. Or should I say, who was behind her. Fucking Inuyasha laying on the floor on his side, smug as a cat that got a rat.

“What the hell are you doing here, Dogboy?” I snarled at him, hands curling into fists. Fucker had the audacity to smirk!

“So you’re finally awake, huh? Well, great news girlie, you’re stuck with me for now on.”

‘Pause….what?’

My mind short circuited for a split second before quickly restarting, his words finally registering before I whipped my head around to stare at Kags in horror.

“Kags, tell me he’s just fucking with me?” I begged.

“Language but sorry, Gaia. He has to stay close to me due to the necklace.” She explained, giving me a pity look.

“What necklace?”

“The one on Inuyasha.” She said, pointing at him. I squinted my eyes and noticed that there was a new necklace on Dogboy. That was definitely not there before. It looks like it has been made with wooden beads and something that looks like claws.

“So it just keeps him close to you? I asked, giving Kagome a look. I know she’s keeping something from me. She has that look on her face. Then she gave me a creepy looking smile and closed her eyes, saying one word.

“Sit.”

I don’t know what I expected. But I know for certain that it was not the dude faceplanting directly into the floor!

“HAHAHAHAHAHA!” I bursted into a fit of laughter, falling back onto the floor with tears rolling down my face. That was the best shit I’ve seen all day! It took a few minutes for me to get my hysterical laughter down to snorts and snickers. Kags was sitting there, smug and proud of herself while Dogboy was glaring and growling.

“That’s so fucking cool! Does it work for everyone like that?” I asked, fascinated. Who wouldn’t be? That’s some magical shit!

“Well, I actually don’t know for certain. Priestess Kaede said that only I have the ability to do that to him.” She explained, her face screwing up in thought.

“Awww man. That’s a downer. Would be nice payback.” I whined, leaning back on my hands and mildly pouting. Only mildly. That got me another glare from Dogboy.

“What the hell did I do to you?!”

‘...Did he just-Is he serious?’ I echoed in my head as I slowly turned my head to stare incredulously at him. Is he genuinely serious about that question? Did that thought actually bypass all his filters, if he even has any, and walk its ass right out of his mouth?! In front of me?!

Kags, no doubt seeing the storm brewing on my face, immediately scooted to the side, leaving my path Inuyasha wide open. She’s never seen me lose my temper completely but most people can sense danger when its right in front of them.

“I believe the question is, what  **didn’t** you do? You turned on us, threatened us, tried to kill Kags, tried to kill me, tried to steal from us and now  **you have the audacity to fucking ask what did you do to me? You fucking tried to kill us, you’ve hurt us and now when I want to pay you back, you have the boldness, the audacity, to ask me that idiotic question? You know DAMN WELL what you did to me! On god, if you ask me another dumbass question like that again, I’m gonna kick your ass again. Regardless of what anybody has to say!”**

While I ranted at him, I didn’t notice my voice changing, the room growing darker, or the fire in the hearth growing until it almost reached the ceiling. Of course I didn’t notice. I was too busy glaring at Inuyasha through my red tinged vision. When I said the last word, I slammed my fist into the floor, not really paying attention in my rage rant, and the fire surged and exploded, almost burning everyone. When it returned to normal, there was only a stunned sort of silence left.

“Holy fucking hell.” I murmured under breath, still in shock from whatever the fuck just happened. What was that?! Why are so many weird things happening?!

Inuyasha shot up, walking over to me with a glare in his eyes. Did my entire rant go over this idiot’s head?!

“You need to keep and watch your temper, girl. Especially considering your connection to fire.”

Apparently fucking so! Did I beat his ass so hard yesterday that his brain fell out?!

“How about you do me a favor? Shut up and sit your-”

Before I could finish my sentence, I was cut off by Inuyasha slamming his head into the floor. This time, I didn’t laugh, too confused by what happened.

“Uh, Kags, I thought you said that only you could do that?” I questioned, giving Kags a confused look, receiving one back.

“Well, that’s what Kaede told me. Maybe she was wrong? Or there are exceptions?”

“Nay, child. That is not the reason for this anomaly.”

We all turned our heads to watch Kaede make her way inside the shack, completely ignoring Inuyasha whining on the floor. She sat down on one side of the fire and looked at Kags and I.

“The reason why the child has the power as you do is because of your spiritual energy.”

Spiritual energy? What in the world is that?! Is this some religious thing?

“My spiritual energy?” Kags questioned, sitting down next to me, across from Kaede.

“Aye, child. The pink light from your hands. That is your spiritual energy and the dark one has been absorbing it into herself.” Kaede explained. I was a little ticked that I was called ‘the dark one’, but that annoyance disappeared when I was told that I was absorbing Kags’ spiritual energy.

“So...like a leech?” I asked, wincing a bit at the comparison. It was either that or parasite. I let out a sigh of relief as Kaede shook her head.

“No child, you are unconsciously taking what is offered.”

“Oh, well, that’s good. But what about Kags? Is she gonna be okay?” I asked, worried that I might actually be killing Kagome.

“Nay. You are merely absorbing the energy that is coming off her. There is too much energy within, so the rest is leaking out. That is what you are taking. And that is how Mistress Centipede found you both.”

Damn, that explains a lot. Not enough, but a lot. I nodded my head, closing my eyes in relief. Until I realized something. I could fuck him up again. I slowly turned around to face Inuyasha with the sweetest smile I could muster at the moment. Inuyasha’s eyes widened and he paled, looking terrified.  **Good** .

“Hey, let’s just wait a-”

I don’t wanna hear all dat.

“Sit!”

Boom!

“Sit!”

Boom!

“Sit”

“Okay Gaia, I think he knows better now.” Kags piped up from behind me.

“One more. Sitsitsitsitsitsitsit! And sit!” I ended with emphasis, making sure the point I made was clear. Don’t fuck with me. Or my friends.

“Huh, well, that was invigorating.” I said cheerfully, sitting back down with a smug smile.

“I bet it was.” Kags responded, giving me an amused look. I smirked down at my handiwork, watching him groan and whine in the crater he created. Serves him right.

“Now, to continue,” Kaede began, straightening up.“Evil beings will come searching for the jewel. Not only youkai, but people with evil in their hearts as well.”

“But why? What can that little thing do?” I questioned, confused with all the grappling for a tiny rock.

“In this age of war, if they can get the Shikon no Tama and all of its spiritual power, they can achieve all of their desires.” Kaede answered grimly, sending a bolt of shock through me. That gemstone can grant desires? A part of me wanted to call bullshit on it but that would be stupid. I was pulled down a magical well to the past by some centipede demon bitch. A magical jewel isn’t too outlandish considering everything else.

“Soo…” Kags turned to Inuyasha. “Why do you want the Shikon no Tama? You’re already pretty strong, even without the power of the jewel.”

‘Is she joking? I was able to beat his ass into the ground almost easily! He ain’t shit!’ I mentally grumbled, rolling my eyes. Strong, my ass.

“It’s because he’s a hanyou.” Kaede stated casually.

“Wait, what’s a “hanyou”?” I asked, confused by the terminology.

“A halfbreed, half human and half demon.” Kaede answered. That seemed to piss Dogboy off since he chose right then to punch a hole straight through the damn floor!

“Babaa, you’ve been going on like that earlier. Do you know me?” He growled at Kaede.

“Hey! How about you shut and chill out?! All she did was answer my question like a polite person would do! Then again, I’m not surprised. Considering you smell and look like an animal, I’m not shocked you act like one too!” I yelled at him, reaching my boiling point again, the storm under my skin rumbling back to life again.This dude must be a pro at pissing people off because no one has ever been able to to piss me off two times in a row.

Dogboy rose to his feet to glare down at me, making me snort. Who does he think he is? My mom? If he’s trying to intimidate me, he’ll have to try a helluva lot harder.

“You wanna go, girl?”

“Look at you actin like you all hotshit. You couldn’t even handle a teenage girl! Now that’s embarrassing.” I taunted with a wide grin, laying on my side with my arm propping my head up. The wind battered from within my skin as the thunder roared in my head, calling for me to show this idiot my power again. Wait, again?

“Alright, that’s enough you two.” Kags interjected, stepping between us before Dogboy did something he would regret.

“Sit down and-” Kagome was cut off by the sweet sound of Dogboy’s pain as he was slammed into the floor. 

‘Karma, fucker.’ I gloated in my head, the storm calming down now that the threat has been subdued. Threat ? Since when was Inuyasha a threat? 

“Oops, sorry! Didn’t mean to do that.” Kags apologized. God knows why. The only response she got was a pained groan.

Kaede was completely unfazed by all the chaos that just transpired. I wonder if that’s an old person thing.

“It’s not surprising that you do not recognize me. I am the younger sister of Kikyou, the one who sealed you.” She answered Inuyasha’s previous question, catching Inuyasha's interest as he crawled out of his crater.

“Kaede?” Inuyasha got this odd look on his face, his eyes distant for a moment.

“It has been fifty years since then, so I have aged well.” Kaede finished, stirring around the wood in the hearth with a poker.

“So you’re that brat, huh? Which means Kikyou is a total hag as well? Too bad being human, isn’t it?” He scoffed, laying back down. 

“Kikyou onee-sama is dead. It was that same day that you were sealed.” Kaede stated solemnly, an old sadness clouding her eye.

‘Damn. So she died fighting him?’ I thought grimly, shivering a bit. Of course, Dogboy just had to say something.

“So that’s what happened. Too bad for that bitch, eh?”

“Does nothing but bullshit come out of your mouth all the time?” I spat at him, irritated. All I got was another of his shitty glares, me raising an eyebrow at him, unimpressed. Try me, bitch.

“Inuyasha, its a bit too early to be relieved.” Kaede interjected before things got ugly again. “Kagome, perhaps you are the reincarnation of Kikyou onee-sama.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OMG I am SO sorry for the lateness, guys! I didn't upload last weekend because we were celebrating something and I had no time because of Finals. And then on Friday I thought I hadn't finished Ch6 so I told myself I will finish it on Saturday. Which was a lie because I just played video games all Saturday. And then, it was only this morning that I realized that I had finished Ch6 LAST WEEK. So I wasted a Saturday 2x over.   
> It was a whole mess of idocy and dumbassery from yours truly. But its here now, soooo, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Gaia is learning some interesting things about herself and its only gonna get crazier from here.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gaia and Kagome are healing from there injuries and trying to understand the weird predicament they found themselves in. Oh, and acting like the kids they are.

Walking around with a cane sucks. We all know this. Walking around with a cane in a period where there is no accessibility for disabled folks? Fucking awful! I limped and hobbled my way through the village, glaring at anyone that dared to stare openly. I was not in the mood for this shit.

‘Kags is the reincarnation of an ancient priestess, I have some weird wind powers and there’s…..something inside of me that reacts when I get angry, we’re both injured and we’re still stuck in the past!’ I mentally rambled to myself, trying to comprehend the amount of insanity that happened to me within the last 24 hours. Honestly, how in the world did I get wrapped into this mess? All I did was help Kags with finding her cat and suddenly, I’m being pulled, yanked, thrown, punched, scratched, and squeezed! By demons! Demons are a real thing, apparently!

“I need a vacation. I feel more stressed than I usually am on a school day. Jesus fucking christ, why is all this happening?” I groaned, rubbing my face with my hands in exhaustion. As soon as we get home, I’m taking a week off from school. I deserve it. Dropping my hands, I let out a heavy exhale, blinking my eyes open to spot Kags walking a few feet away from me, looking down at the Shikon Jewel thoughtfully.

‘Guess I’m not the only one trying to comprehend this mess.’ I watched her for a few seconds before something caught my eye. That’s when I saw that some villagers looked as if they were...praying to her? No way! And of course, Kags hasn’t even noticed yet.

I tried not to snicker too loudly, hiding my mouth behind my hand. Getting a mischievous idea, I chuckled silently to myself as I tiptoed behind Kags, facing the villagers. Raising my cane in my hand, I spoke in the most preacher esque voice I could summon.

“Villagers! Behold before you, the great Shiori, trusted priestess of the reincarnation of the great Kikyou! The great priestess has spoken to me and said that she shall not receive any offerings unless they pass through me first, to make certain there are no dark curses or malicious intentions that could take our beloved priestess from us once more.” I shouted, trying to hold back my grin as I heard the villagers ooo and aaaa. Soon, they started piling their food offerings before me, bowing in greeting and departing. 

“Thank you, may you be blessed for the rest of your days everlasting.” I mumbled to each one, satisfaction and pride with my work growing. We eatin good tonight!

Only for my joy to be squashed cruelly when I felt someone cuff me upside my head.

“Ow, hey! What was that for?” I asked, meeting Kags glare with my own. 

“You’re scamming these people out of their food!” 

“Oh, come on, Kags. They were offering it anyways. It’s rude to not accept a gift.” I explained, shrugging my shoulders when Kags continued to give me that look of a scolding mom. We engaged in a short staring before I eventually sighed heavily in irritation. This is what happens when you have a goody two shoes as a friend.

“We can’t give these back. It’ll be just plain rude. So why not have a little picnic or something? I think after the insanity we endured in the past 24 hours, we both really deserve it.” I suggested, picking out an apple and taking a bite, humming a pleasant tune as the sweet taste filled my mouth. It’s been a while since I’ve had an apple. I could see the internal struggle of morals vs desire war inside of Kags eyes before she finally surrendered, her shoulder’s falling as she heaved a heavy sigh.

“Fiiiiiiine. I guess it would be nice to relax.”

“WOOO! Let’s go! To the tree on that hill!” I cheered at my victory, taking up my share of two baskets and taking off, Kags laughing not too far behind me. We jogged halfway before slowing down to a stroll, out of breathe and trying not to choke on our idiotic laughter. I probably shouldn’t be running and moving around so much with my injuries, but I was too busy enjoying myself to care.

‘It's only a minor jog. I’ll be fine.’

As Kags and I walked up to the hill, we spotted a red and white being sitting high up in a tree next to the path. 

‘Ugh, Dogboy.’ I mentally groaned, rolling my eyes. Out the corner of my eyes, I saw Kags reach into one of her baskets, taking a big tomato and chucking it at him.

‘Time to paint the town red, Dogboy.’ I mentally taunted, waiting for the inevitable moment when the tomato goes splat on the back of his stupid head. Only to be disappointed when he easily caught it. How did he even do that?! His eyes are closed!

“There! That’s your half of the share!”

“He didn’t deserve any of it! He didn’t do any work!” I protested loudly, annoyed with her giving away our rightfully earned food. Dogboy of course heard me, opening one eye to glare one golden eye at me. I only glared back. Hasn’t he learned I’m not easily intimidated?

“What’s all that stuff?” He eventually asked, catching sight of the baskets we were carrying.

“Stuff Gaia swindled from the villagers.”   
“Woah woah woah, I didn’t “swindle” anything! They gave it to me!” I protested loudly, defending my honor. It’s not swindling if it was going to be given to you in the first place!

“Why don’t you come down from there and help us eat it?” Kags asked, making me stare at her in utter shock of what I just heard. Is she serious?!   
“Wha! What the fu-Kags!” I shouted at her after a moment of trying to get my tongue to work.

“What? What’s the matter?” She asked, looking at me as if I was overreacting.

“What you mean “What’s the matter?”?! He can’t eat with us!” I shouted in irritation, my accent loudly apparent now that I wasn’t bothering with covering it, too busy trying to beat some sense into Kagome’s head. Why in the world is she inviting the guy who tried to kill us to eat with us?! Has she gone nuts?!

“Gaia, we can’t eat all this food by ourselves.”

“Then we can save it for tomorrow!”

“Where, Gaia? There’s no fridge here!”

“There’s other ways to store food without a fridge! We can salt or pickle them!” I argued, unwilling to back down. Kags released a heavy sigh, tension leaving her shoulders as she calmed down from yelling. 

“Gaia, I know you don’t like nor trust him, I sure don’t, but we can at least share a tiny bit of food with him.” She explained gently, helping ease away some of my own anger.

“And if he tries to kill us again?” I asked, raising a brow at her as I crossed my arms.

“Then you will sit him for however long you want. I know you can handle him.” She answered, giving me a cocky smile radiating confidence. I tried to hold onto my anger but my lips wouldn’t stop twitching until I finally gave in, a grin of my own appearing.

“You’re damn right.”

“I’m still here, you know!” Dogboy interjected loudly.

“We know. We just don’t care.” I said, giving him an annoyed look to show how much I don’t care about his opinions and feelings. 

When he finally agreed to come down, we all walked up to the large hill, sitting under a tree to eat our food. Well, it was more like Kags and I ate, while Dogboy tore his food apart while glaring daggers at us. Eventually, I got sick of his shit.

“If you keep glaring at us, your eyes are gonna pop out.” I hissed at him, patience tank already past empty.

“I don’t know what you’re planning but I ain’t falling for it.” He grumbled at us, causing me to laugh.

“You already ate the food. What makes you think we didn’t poison it or something?” I questioned, not able to stop myself from messing with him. 

The look of pure horror on his face was hilarious! His eyes went wide with fear and realization, before quickly bending over and spitting on the ground.

“Gaia.” Kagome’s deadpan tone halted my laughter, my eyes rolling.

“Oh come on, Kags! He walked into it!” I defended myself, only receiving the “you know what you did” look from Kags before she turned to Dogboy.

“Don’t worry, she’s just messing with you. We didn’t poison the food.”

“No, but we should’ve.” I grumbled, sticking my tongue out at Dogboy when he glared at me. Immature? Yes. Gets under his skin? Absolutely.

“Listen, we get that you don’t like us-”

‘No shit Kags.’ I thought, stuffing another tomato piece into my mouth.

“You two make me retch.” He growled at Kags, cutting her off. I heaved a heavy sigh at his dramatics. The feeling is mutual, asshole.

“Now listen you, I’m Kagome. I’m not Kikyou. So how about being a little bit more friendly?” Kagome asked, giving him a friendly smile while I reel back in astonishment. 

‘Is she SERIOUS?! Asking the guy who tried to kill us to be more friendly?! She’s insane!’ I mentally ranted, too shocked to speak it out loud. Kagome’s optimism is going to get us in trouble, I swear. Well, more in trouble than we already are in.

“Keh, you idiot. Whoever the hell you are, it won’t help you when it comes to getting the Shikon Jewel!” He, predictably, scoffed at her, standing up to look down his nose at Kags. A part of me wanted to defend her but I squashed it. Maybe now she’ll see that he can’t be healed with the power of friendship or whatever. I’ll just sit right here and eat my food.

“Ah, right. But if you ever do get violent, I can just say “Sit” and-” 

Kags was cut off by Dogboy’s yelp when he was slammed into the ground. Again, Karma came and collected her due.

“Ah, sorry! I didn’t mean it!” 

And once again, Kags apologizes for doing the right thing. 

After Dogboy fled back to his perch in a tree, Kags and I finished up our food and messed around, making jokes and chilling in the shade of the tree. Just….enjoying a moment of peace in this whirlwind of chaos. It was nice. My injuries obviously appreciated the rest, the minor throb of pain falling to the back of my mind.

“Hey, Gaia.”

“Hm?” I hummed, my eyes closed as I leaned my head against the trunk of the tree, enjoying the cool shade.

“That time when you….when you blew Mistress Centipede away from us. You had this...look on your face and a strange aura about you. It felt like I was looking at a whole different person. And this feeling I got from you. Its like something blipped at the back of my mind. But I don’t know what it is or what it means. But you felt….safe. Powerful. And confident.” Kagome did her best to explain to me. I let her words sink in for a bit, the thunder rumbling in my chest as I thought of what to say. How to describe what’s...in me now to her.

“For a while, I was terrified. Absolutely terrified. I thought we were gonna die, Kagome. That she was going to tear us apart and eat us! I wanted to go home! I wanted to survive! I was willing to do anything at that point to get us out of there alive! So badly. And...there was this pressure building up in my head and in my chest and I just went on autopilot.” I tried to explain to her what I felt, what I was currently feeling. The concept was so strange, so fucking bonkers, that I don’t think it can be explained through words accurately. Getting up, I began to pace around the tree, playing with my left earring as I tried to think.

“It feels like….it’s like there’s something in me. Under my skin, in between my bones, in my blood. Its alive, but not in the way an animal or a human is alive but nature. Its a whole storm in here, Kagome. I feel it all the time now. And it responds to me and my moods. When I was getting pissed at Inuyasha, I felt the thunder roaring at me, the lightning crackling at the tips of my fingers, and the wind howling around me! Look Look, it's happening right now!” I clarified, hopping around the tree in excitement, watching in awe as small blue tendrils of electricity crackled around my fingertips. Kagome rushed over to me, a look of worry, confusion, and awe written all over her face, her mouth gaped in shock.

“Woah….Does it hurt?”

“No, not at all! It kinda tickles, to be honest. All I feel is some heat but it's a nice heat.” I answered, wiggling my fingers around to watch the small branches of electricity wind around the tips of my fingers like blue snakes. It was unbelievable. I can’t believe that this was happening. That any of this was happening. I’m still half stuck on the belief that this is all just a weird dream and I’ll wake up soon.

“This is….This is so….amazing. And weird.” Kags mumbled, reaching out to touch one of the tendrils, only to snap her hand back when it zapped her, shooting me a glare when I snickered. She had it coming! Who tries to touch lightning bolts?

“That’s the understatement of the century. What about your powers?” 

“Mine?” Kags asked, looking startled before staring down at her hands, eyebrows furrowing in, I think, concentration. But nothing happened. No weird pink light, nothing. Finally, Kags just gave up, huffing in annoyance, pouting a little.

“I guess that was a fluke.”

“Maybe it only works when you’re in danger?” I tried to cheer her up.

“Hmm, maybe. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.” Kags sighed, sitting back down against the tree, me, carefully, following. Then I remembered something.

“How's your wound? You got snatched up pretty bad.”

“Hm? Oh, it’s healing. It wasn’t as bad as it looked when it was covered in blood. She didn’t tear that deep. It still kinda hurts, especially when I press against it, but its better than dying” Kags answered with a shrug, gently prodding her side.

“That’s a relief. At least you don’t have to use a cane! It sucks! Do you know how hard it is to limp around on a dirt path?! If I accidentally place it on top of a pebble, TIMBER! I have more bruises than what I got from that Centipede woman! And I think I have a pebble in my shoe! There’s rocks and pebbles everywhere, Kags! I’m starting to realize I took paved roads and sidewalks for granted!” I began to rant, waving my hands around in my fury, Kags bursting out laughing.

“It’s not funny! I’m suffering, Kags!”

“Yes it is! You’re being dramatic, Gaia. It's dirt, it should be easy to use a cane. It should be easier here actually!”

“What?! No, that’s not how this works! It's harder because everything is not as smooth!”

“What are you doing? Lifting the cane with each step or dragging it? It should be following your feet!”

“Nuh uh!

“Yeah huh!   
“Nuh uh!”

“Yeah huh!”

We spent the next hour going back and forth like that like little kids, giggling and snickering. When the sun started to set, we made our back to Kaede’s hut, me making Kags use the cane to show her I was right. Not having it slowed me down, but it was worth it watching her struggling placing it on a decent area with every step. I love being right.

We arrived at Kaede’s hut right when night fell, both panting from exertion. Well, in my case, struggling to laugh and breathe at the same time.

“Okay, maybe you have a point. That was hard.”

“Gee, ya think?” I snarked, dodging the smack on my arm she tried to give, smirking.

“No hitting the injured person!”

“Fine, I’ll just do this.” She retorted, sticking out her tongue and making an L with her hand on her forehead. I gasped in fake exaggerated offense.

“Why, Kagome! Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?” 

“Absolutely.”

“Well, since you threw the first blow, I get to do this.” I said before sticking out my own tongue and pulling down my left eyelid.

“Wow, peak maturity right there, Gaia.” Kags scoffed, heading inside.

“Aht aht, you stuck your tongue out first, therefore, you’re less mature than me.” I retorted, following her inside. At least, I was going to when that bad unnamed feeling came back. I froze in my steps, turning my head to look over my shoulder. But I didn’t see anything. But as I’ve learned so far, that doesn’t quite mean that something wasn’t there.

“Gaia, come on. Kaede is making dinner.”

“Coming.”

Shooting one last glare at whatever was lurking in the bush, I went inside, letting the flap close behind me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hoooooooooly shiiiiiit! It has been a hot minute since we spoken! Happy New Year!  
> So far.....its been a wild ride. And we're only in Janurary. This chapter was supposed to be out last weekend but...shit happened, fam. It is what it is. The next chapter will be out on time.
> 
> Soooo...I heard about the shittery with the Show-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named and the big hit that the Inuyasha fandom took last week. All I gotta say is......Don't bring that shit onto this fic. Show-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named is non canon to me. Nothing applies. All info learned in it, nonexistent. Problem with that? There's the door.
> 
> N E Ways, hope y'all enjoyed today's chapter and are excited for more! Please leave your comments down below. I love reading them.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Inuyasha and Gaia? Making an alliance?? The world is ending!  
> Someone call Kagome-Oh wait.

“Where the fuck is she? How did she manage to disappear into thin air?!” I shouted, annoyed beyond hell and back. I woke up late today, not able to eat breakfast because it was way past and now I’m told that Kagome disappeared off somewhere?! By herself?!

“Arrrgh, Kags, when I get my hands on you, I’m going to throttle some sense into you.” I growled into the empty air of the forest around me. I didn’t want to admit it, even privately to myself, but I was scared that something would happen to her if she was left alone. Kags was fierce, that is true, and doesn’t take shit from anyone, no matter who it is. However, she was optimistic and believed everyone can change with help and the power of love and friendship.

She’s always willing to help everyone, even when they brought their problems on themselves. She doesn’t seem to understand the saying “You reap what you sow”. It is both her best and worst trait. In my opinion. And now she has me rummaging through a forest in the middle of fucking nowhere, looking for her! 

‘Does she have ANY survival instincts whatsoever?!’ I huffed, feeling the wind beginning to stir

“Looking for something?” A familiar voice piped up from above me. Without warning, I groaned loudly, barely holding myself back from rolling my eyes to the back of my damn head.

‘Not this fool again!’ 

Looking up, I was greeted with the very displeasing sight of Dogboy lounging in a tree above my head, shiteating smirk on his face. Asshole.

“Who let you off your leash?” I spat at him, giving him a sharp glare. He picked the wrong one on the wrong day. 

“No need to breathe fire at me, girlie. Just offering a helping hand. Odd how you’re struggling to find her.” He sneered down at me, the wind whispering in my ears to blow him out of that tree. I resisted though, not out of goodwill but because I just don’t have the time to waste on his shit.

“Do you know where she is or don’t you? Quickly now.” I got up from the ground I had been kneeling on, dusting off my skirt, not that there was any point in doing so. It had been ruined for a hot minute now. If…..When we return home, this thing gonna have to go in the trash.

“Yeah, caught her trail nice and clear…..Along with several other humans.”

The way he said that last half so ominously signaled to me that those other humans were not good news. A chill ran down my back. And a bad gut instinct gripped me. Kags, what trouble have you gotten yourself into now?

“Where is she?”

“3 miles west of here. That’s where there are a lot more humans too. Probably a hideout of sorts.”

“West. 3 miles. Got it.” I mumbled, running a hand down my right arm, feeling relieved that my fan was still there in my sleeve. Thank god for my foresight to bring this along. It wasn’t very much of a weapon but it was all I had. Take little, live long as grandma would say. Mind made up, I started marching through the forest, back straight and eyes set on my path. Only to be once again, interrupted.

“Just where are you going?”

“Where do you think, dumbo? To get Kags.” I answered, not even looking in his direction.

“Like that? You can barely walk!”

God is testing me, that has gotta to be the answer for why I’m being put through all this shit. It was getting harder to reign in the thunder scratching under my skin.

“Well how else am I supposed to get there?!” I yelled at him, a hair’s breath away from just saying “fuck it” and blowing him out of the tree anyway.

“You can’t fly?!”

‘Fuck it. I’ve had enough.’ With no hesitation, I gave into the urge and whipped out my fan, swinging it roughly in his general direction and letting out a small, controlled raging gust of sharp wind. And by small and controlled, I mean fucking chaotic whirlwind. I didn’t really pay attention to the damage but from the loud sounds of crashing trees, I did a good number.

“Yeesh, okay, damn! I get it!”

**‘He’s still alive?’** A dark growl of a thought rang in the back of my head. I huffed in annoyance and looked at the bit of red out of the corner of my eye.

“Listen, I need the jewel and you want to help the girl. And both of that requires us both going to get her and in your condition, you wouldn’t reach there in time. So you can either get on my back and get there faster or I can leave you here limping through the forest.” Dogboy bargained, situated in a taller tree, as if that’ll protect him from wind of all things. There are no cells in that brain.

As much as my pride wanted me to tell him to fuck off and keep going, the logical part of me knew, and this stung, that he was right. I was still injured, still healing and wasn’t supposed to be up and about in the first place. And who knows in what state Kags will be in when I get there without help. There was no other choice.

“Fine. But any funny business from you and you will be sat through the crust of the Earth.” I warned, narrowing my eyes at him. Knowing this asshole, he’s probably already planning an ‘accident’ for me. He ain’t bout to catch me slipping.

“Read ya loud and clear. Now come on.” He jumped down from his tree perch, landing in front of me in a crouch with his back towards me. I just stared.

‘No fucking way. Tell me he isn’t suggesting-’

“Well? What are you waiting for? Get on and let’s go!”

‘He is. You gotta be fucking kidding me!’ I cursed inside my head, biting my tongue just in time to not say anything besides a groan. Shoving down my already wounded pride, I wrapped my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist, glaring fire right into the back of his stupid head and his stupid dog ears. 

I only had a split second to brace myself before he suddenly leapt up into the air, the wind slamming into my face as I barely held back a scream, swallowing it down to gasp instead. 

I won’t lie. This is awesome. Whatever he was doing wasn't quite flying but kinda like really long gliding. Like a sugar glider. Just not as adorable.

Something about being up there in the sky, practically weightless, the breeze combing through my hair; it made me feel….at ease. Even though I was holding onto the back of my currently worst enemy, I felt free. It gave me the same rush that running up and down the hills of St.Thomas or diving under the ocean gave me, the burst of adrenaline and power. I’ve missed it. Looking down, I was able to see a building, partially torn down and decrepit, partially taken over by nature with vines climbing up the walls. That’s gotta be where Kagome is.

“She’s here. Get your powers ready.”

Suspicions confirmed.

“What’s the plan?”

“You’ll blow some wind into the building as a distraction and entrance. I’ll deal with the leader and you handle the rest.” He answered, flexing his claws in preparation. So, I’m basically doing the majority of the work. Saw that shit coming. But I didn’t argue, my mind too focused on getting Kags out alive.

“Got it.” I answered, taking out my fan and snapping it open. The maelstrom under my skin whirled around in anticipation, almost like an eager Labrador scratching at the door.

“Now!”

With no hesitation, I swung the fan down hard, releasing a furious tidal wave of powerful wind at the building. I have the most basic grasp of my powers, and that’s putting it nicely, and didn’t really know how to aim it properly. I just aimed at the general area of the temple. 

The wind slammed into the middle of the temple, tearing through wood and stone with a loud roar. Inuyasha leapt through the hole, landing inside with his claws out. Hopping off his back, I looked around, mildly surprised at what I saw. Men barely dressed in torn and dirty armor, backed against the sides of the room shaking and terrified, staring at us with wide eyes. Turning my head, I let out a sigh of relief seeing Kagome unharmed. She’s holding a stick, but that’s minor.

“Gaia!” She cried out, her scared expression lighting up into happiness.

“Kagome! Are you okay?” I responded, running over to her side and standing in front of her, eyeing the absolutely giant of a man standing in front of us warily. That unnamed instinct feeling was back again, my body tensing and the wind whirling protectively around us. This guy was bad news.

“Yeah, I’m fine. But he took the jewel from me!”

That’s not good! How did he even know she had it?

“You let him take the jewel?!” Inuyasha yelled at her. Why am I not surprised that he’s more concerned with the damn jewel?

“I didn’t LET him take it! He snatched it from me!” 

“Ya telling me that you couldn’t handle a human?!”

“Aye! As much as I love chaos, we’re in the middle of something right now, so can y’all please not bicker in the middle of a fight!” I snapped at them, my attention entirely focused on Big guy. Of all the times to get into a fucking argument, they choose in the middle of being surrounded by a gang? Survival instincts are in short supply, I see.

“Yuck, what an disgusting smell. It stinks of a reeking corpse in here.” I heard Inuyasha gag behind me, his words turning my body cold. That’s definitely not what I wanted to hear right now!

“You’re in there, aren’t you?! Shibugarasu!” Inuyasha yelled, leaping over me and slashing at the guy’s chest, his claws tearing the chest armor right off. And unfortunately revealed the mess underneath.

“Ah!”

“Holy fucking shit! Jesus Christ!”

There was a fucking three eyed crow in the guy’s chest! Literally inside of a man’s chest! Surprised, I stumbled backwards, bumping into Kags who was covering her mouth with her hands, all eyes on….that.

“Sometimes, around last night probably, it ate his way into his chest and built a fucking nest.” Inuyasha said calmly, as if this was a regular fucking occurance.

‘Tell me he did not just say ATE! Eugh!’

My skin was covered in goosebumps, my hands shaking as the full weight of the situation fell on me. That thing ate through a whole human man!

“O-Okashira…..You mean he’s already dead?!”

I hope so. Because the implication of the other choice was horrifying.

“Ya know, I thought he was acting kinda strange, but I didn’t think it’d be because of this.” The men of the gang whispered fearfully to each other. I wanted so badly to speak but it felt like everything in me froze.

“Gaia, are you okay?” Kagome’s voice snapped me out of it, my eyes blinking as I quickly realized that she was standing in front of me, blocking my view of….that thing, giving me a concerned look.

“Huh? Y….yeah. I’m fine. I’m good.” I answered, my mind beginning to work again now that the gruesome sight was blocked. Inwardly, I was kicking myself. Why did I freeze up like that?

The look on Kags face told me she didn’t believe me but we didn’t have time to speak again, the crow making the corpse move to attack Inuyasha. But if there’s one thing Inuyasha has, its speed. He sidestepped the sword and leapt at the puppet corpse, claws flexed.

“Get outta that bloody nest, scum!”

And shoved his entire hand into the nest hole in the chest, making everyone grimace and cringe away. 

‘God, the sound.’ I gritted my teeth as the sound of something squishing rang through the air, my hand clenching my fan to ground myself. Only to gasp as the crow demon flew out from the hole in the back. Holding something glowing with a familiar pink light.

“The Jewel!”

The crow demon made a swift getaway, dodging Inuyasha’s spear throw and a very weak wind blast from me. To be fair, the wind blast was an afterthought to me.

“Damn it!”

“What do we do now?!” I panicked, remembering Kaede’s words about what happened if demons gained the jewel. For a second, I can see the panic reflecting on Inuyasha’s face, his eyes darting around, looking for something before landing on something in the corner. A bow and a quiver of arrows.

‘Is he gonna-’

“Come on!”

“Wah-!”

“Eh?!”

Kags and I didn’t even have time to comprehend what was happening before we were roughly yanked on to Inuyasha’s back and he was leaping into the air.

“Wait, what’s the plan?” I questioned breathlessly, trying to get air back into my lungs.

“What you you waiting for? Hurry up and shoot it down!” He shouted at Kagome, the order knocking the breath out of me again. 

‘Is-No fucking way! Is he asking her to do archery?! On a moving target?!’

“Do-Don’t say something so stupid! I don’t know how to do archery!” Kags shouted back at him, coming to the same conclusion as I did. Archery on its own is hard. Archery against a moving target, on top of a moving platform? As a beginner? Insanity!

“Do you know that this bastard only feeds on humans? What do you think is gonna happen when he swallows the Jewel and gets bigger?”

Inuyasha’s words silenced both of our protests, a sudden chill overtaking us. We hadn’t thought of that. And unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened. The little fucker swallowed the damn Jewel!

“I’ll see if I can do it! Gaia, I’m probably gonna need your help!” Kagome finally relented, giving me a hopeful look. We both knew we were out of our depth but its a matter of life and death.

“I’ll do my best!” I opened my fan, wincing a little at the dull throb of an ache in my right shoulder from all the hard swings I’ve been doing. Doesn’t help that its made of metal and heavy either.

“You can do it in one shot! Kikyou was a master of the bow. And with the dragon’s wind, this should be a piece of cake!”

“Call me that again and we’ll see!”

“I’m Kagome, dammit!”

Kags and I shouted at him before focusing back onto the task at hand. Kags notched the arrow, drawing it back and aiming it at the far off black speck. I powered up the wind in my veins, tensions running through my arms, ready to let it loose at the command.

“Go!”

“Hah!”

I let out the raging vortex burst out of my fan with a swing and a shout, helping carry Kagome’s arrow farther. Except it didn’t keep the arrow straight. The arrow only stayed straight halfway before wobbling and spinning around in the blast. By the time it reached the crow demon, it was useless and the wind died down.

“Huh?”

“Well shit.” I grumbled, annoyed and kinda not surprised. We told him that she couldn’t do archery.

“When you said Kikyou was a master of the bow….was that a lie?” She asked awkwardly.

“Kags-” I groaned, only to be cut off.

“You’re just really fucking clumsy, aren’t you?!” Inuyasha shouted at her. I was about to call him out but was silenced at the horrifying sight in front of us. The crow demon reached the village before us and snatched up a little kid!

“Shit!”

“Shit is right! It's starting to transform!” Inuyasha landed before leaping into the air again. 

“That kid...That thing isn’t really gonna-” Kags started to deny, only to be silenced by Inuyasha and I.

“Kags, it’s a demon! What do you think it eats?!”   
“I told you, Shibagarasu feed on humans! But luckily for us, with its movements hampered by the weight, it can’t move as fast. How convenient.” 

I wasn’t liking that tone change at the end of his sentence. And seeing him flex his claws clued me in to what he was planning on doing. 

‘With a kid right under it?!’

“Wha-”

“I’ll rip the entire thing to shreds!” Inuyasha roared, pulling back his hand to strike.

“You idiot! You have to save the child!” Kagome screamed before literally throwing herself off of Inuyasha and grabbing the kid. Unfortunately, she forgot one minor thing.

**She was still holding onto my fucking arm!**

“KAGOME!” I screamed as we fell, just barely grabbing the child as we free fell through the air.

“You idiots! Why are you getting in my way?!”

“You piece of shit!” I screamed back at him, uncaring about anything else besides the fact that we were falling!

Only to be shoved into another dire situation when I saw a gaping maw with sharp teeth coming at us!

“Fuck! Go away!” I screamed, swinging my fan, only realising too late that I didn’ put any power into it. 

“Oh shit.” I murmured to myself as I essentially slapped a demonic crow thing with a metal war fan. My day is just going fucking spectacular, huh?

Luckily, not so much for my pride, Inuyasha came right in time and slashed the demon to pieces. My relief was short lived since the ground decided to remind me of its presence. Hard.

“OW! Fucking! Shit! Agh.” I cursed, growling in pain as all the cute and bruises from our last fight decided to remind me that they are still there and living well.

“Owww! Damn, that hurts. Gaia, are you okay?” I heard Kagome ask me off to my left.

“Give me a sec, Kags. My eyes are still spinning.” I mumbled a response, closing my eyes before reopening them, glad to see the world the right way instead of upside down.

“Hey there, its okay. Its alright now. Oh, ew.” Kags murmured to someone who was crying. Oh yeah, the kid.

Sitting up, wincing, I looked over to see Kags freeing the boy’s arm from the talon body part still clinging to him. Ew indeed. Gross.

“Oi! Girl! Where’s the Shikon Jewel?!” 

And right on time, there’s Dogboy talking about the damn jewel again. Like clockwork. Hearing a noise, I glanced over behind me, only to freeze in shock when I saw the crow demon putting itself back together and taking off again.

“Shit!”

“It put itself back together?!” I exclaimed, scrambling backwards away from the fuck. 

‘Shit, where did my fan go!?’ I scrambled through the dirt, looking for the tessen, only to notice it stuck between a few rocks ahead. It required a bit of wiggling to get it out but when I finally managed to get it free, I was disappointed to see a small hair thin crack running down the side.

‘It hasn’t even been a week yet! And its already broken?!’ I raged, doing my best to blink away the hot sting behind my eyes. Kagome gave me this gift to help me protect myself and it has been the only thing between me and death ever since we got here. It helped me discover and control my powers. What am I going to do if it breaks completely? What would I do without it?

“Gaia!”

Kagome’s voice snapped me out of my pity party and misery, drawing my attention over to her, to be met with…..an absolutely insane sight. She had the bow drawn, the arrow aimed upwards at the fleeing crow demon and….a talon tied onto it?

‘Has she finally lost it?’

“Before you give me that face, just look.” Kags stopped me before I could ask her out loud, gesturing with her head at the arrow. Confused, I took another look at her arrow. That’s when I noticed she was straining against it. Something was tugging it upwards….the talon! Its trying to go back to the main body!

“I see it!”

“Great! I’ll still need your wind. But this time, aim under it, not in the same path!” Kagome instructed, her arm straining to keep the arrow notched. I turned the idea over in my head as I snapped open the tessen. Under it, not in the same path.

“Got it!”

“On 3. 1...2”

“You’re not gonna hit it like that. You’re too weak with the bow and the hatchling’s wind is too destructive and chaotic to carry it effectively.” Dogboy sneered at us from behind, downplaying our efforts. 

“When we get this shot, then you’ll see, Dogboy.” I shot back, focused.

“I’ll definitely hit it! 3!”

“Let’s GOOOOOOO!” I roared, putting my all into the windstorm and aiming for under the arrow with a harsh swing of my fan. We all watched with baited breath as the arrow shot towards its target, me nervously praying that my wind doesn’t fuck up. But my ancestors must’ve been watching over me because not only did the wind faithfully carry the arrow, not only did the arrow stay straight; It hit the demon!

“It struck!”   
“YES!” Kags and I cheered, damn proud of our accomplishment. Only to be stopped when all of a sudden a bright pink explosion of light filled up the sky. Through the bright firework of unnatural light, I saw tiny sparkling things flying over our heads, disappearing further into the horizon. Kags and I glanced at each other with the same nervous expressions, our eyes saying that we are sharing the same thoughts.

‘Oh shit, what did we do?’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The pot called Gaia's life is boiling over now.  
> And I just LOOOOOOVE how I said that this chapter would be delivered on time and......that turned out to be a whole ass lie. Fucking bonkers, y'all.  
> But hey, y'all get an extra long chapter as a result! Yay!  
> One of the many moments y'all have been waiting for. The breaking of the Shikon Jewel. And Gaia can't blame it entirely on Kags now cause she also had a large hand in it. But hey, teamwork makes the dream work.  
> An unlikely 10 minute team up with Inuyasha and a badass girl team up with Kagome.   
> I'm really feeding y'all today. Enjoy the meal!


End file.
